Serena Williams

People always think the opposite.

Yes.

And so on my mom's court, there was no games.

I had to be serious and I had to do all this stuff.

But then looking back, I was able to see that she was able to instill so much mental toughness that I had that my sister actually did not end up getting.

Mm-hmm.

because I had to do so much.

I had to work so hard.

I had to do so many more things on her court.

There were no games.

It was so serious.

In the end, I was very grateful that I had that time with her to just focus on technique and focus on just not letting anything go because it really showed up in my game as a professional athlete mentally and physically.

And so that came from my mom.

And so my mom, then she traveled with us.

Actually, the first tournament I ever won, we had to split again.

My dad was with Venus and I was with my mom in Paris.

And it was my first time, I think I was like 16.

And I remember we shared a room because I love Paris.

So I remember like we were at this hotel on the other side of the river.

And I remember that we shared a room, and she had the bed, and I slept on the cot, because I love sleeping on a cot.