Serena Williams is in Australia right now. In the first week of the year, she played Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, and she looked like she was in really good form. She won every singles match she played. She’s had this week off in Melbourne, and her Australian Open campaign begins on Tuesday. The AO draw came out on Thursday, and… I think Serena’s got a good shot at going deep, quite honestly. She could face some good players early, like #1 Simona Halep in the fourth round, or Karolina Pliskova in the quarters, but I still like Serena’s chances at getting to the semis or further. The big potential “popcorn match” would be Serena vs. Naomi Osaka in the semifinal, but we still have a way to go before then.

I always find it remarkable to see Serena’s timing for magazine interviews – her timing in media, like her timing on the court, is impeccable. Supposedly, she covers the latest issue of Allure to promote her side projects, like her clothing line. But coming just days before Serena plays her first competitive match since the US Open final, well… this Allure piece is a perfect piece of promotion. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

Being a black athlete in tennis: “There weren’t a lot of role models for me to look up to [in the sport] and say, ‘Wow, I want to look like this!’… I kind of had to be that role and be that person… Venus and I started out being successful, continued to be successful, and we were also unapologetically ourselves. We were not afraid to wear braids. We weren’t afraid to be black in tennis. And that was different.”

Body positivity: “I think my mom instilled in us to be confident women, to really believe in ourselves, be proud of our heritage, our hair, and our bodies. That was something that was really important for her to teach us. I’m definitely teaching it to my daughter… I have a picture from when I was, like, two years old. My arms are ripped. If you look at my daughter, she has a very similar body type.”

Getting back in shape after giving birth: “I’m feeling pretty good about my body. I worked hard at it in the past eight months to get back from the baby. It hasn’t been easy. I’m not 21 anymore. But I did it slow and steady. After I came out [of the hospital], I had a stomach, but I thought, This is kind of cool. I have a stomach because the baby was there.”

What she will tell Olympia about beauty: “When I tell her she’s beautiful, I want to teach her that she’s beautiful from the inside. Giving is beauty. Being kind and humble is the ultimate beauty.”

What she will tell Olympia about strength: “I want her to know that being strong is never easy. Not in this world we are living in…. Standing up for yourself is not going to be easy, but it’s always eventually respected. Those are the people who’ve made a difference in this world, people that stand up for what’s right. If you look at history, those are the people that you really remember. And at the time, oh, my God, it seemed impossible.”

On finding her husband Alexis Ohanian: “Oprah said, ‘Never let anyone dim your light.’ That really stuck with me. Alexis doesn’t dim my light. He doesn’t try to dim my light. He puts me in the light, even if I don’t want to be. He pushes me to further points I never thought about. It always was something that I could see in some relationships — my light would be dimmer. Now I feel like I can shine really bright and still do everything that I want to do.”

[From Allure]

“Standing up for yourself is not going to be easy, but it’s always eventually respected.” It makes me think back to an interview Serena did several years back, before she even equalled Steffi Graff’s Slam record, and she was asked why she still plays, what left is there in the sport. Serena’s answer was basically “I play for history and I play for myself.” Two different things, and yet the same thing. She’s playing for herself, to see what else she can do, to reach the next goal and the next goal, but she’s also trying to make it easier for all the other women of color who come after her. That’s what the US Open controversy became about too.

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“Venus and I were unapologetically ourselves. We weren’t afraid to wear braids. We weren’t afraid to be black in tennis. And that was different,” says Serena. “I think my mom instilled in us to be confident women, to really believe in ourselves, be proud of our heritage, our hair, and our bodies….I’m definitely teaching that to my daughter.” Our cover star @serenawilliams shares her thoughts on the power of self-confidence — and self-care — through the @allure link in bio. ___ #photographer: @tanyaposternak & @zposternak #interview: @smashfizzle #hair: @vernonfrancois #makeup: @carlenekmakeup #stylist: @jaimekaywaxman #manicure: @nailjerks

A post shared by Allure Magazine (@allure) on Jan 10, 2019 at 5:09am PST

Cover and photo courtesy of Allure.