Serena Williams just won the French Open last month, which brought her to a total of 20 Grand Slam titles. The powerhouse tennis player is now only two titles away from beating the record held by tennis legend, Steffi Graf. The athlete is a superstar in the tennis world, but she has always suffered from her share of body image issues.
Williams opened up in an interview with The Huffington Post about loving her body just the way it is. Growing up, Williams was always compared to her older sister Venus.
"It wasn't very easy – growing up, Venus was like a model. I was thicker," she said.
The two tennis players are only one year apart, and Serena has always compared herself to her older sister. She explains that she always felt different on and off the tennis court because of her thick body type.
Now that Williams is older, she has come to love her curves. "Most women athletes are pretty thin. I didn't really know how to deal with it. I had to come to terms – as every teen and young adult does – with loving myself," she said. "I had to find different role models. But my body type is in style now, so I'm loving it!"
The tennis star preached that growing up is all about learning to love yourself. "You can be down in life, but you can overcome things based on the way you think and how you set your frame of mind," she said.
Williams became the first black female athlete to grace the cover of Vogue magazine in April, which was shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
A photo posted by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Mar 21, 2015 at 5:54pm PDT
