Serena Williams and her hardships

Serena Williams / Edwin Martinez - Flickr.com

Serena Williams is one of the top women’s tennis players in the world, ranking first in women’s singles on six separate occasions. Becoming the successful player that she is today has been an uphill battle, overcoming many challenging obstacles in her career.

At the age of three, Serena and her sister Venus started playing tennis with her father's instructions on the courts of Compton, California. The courts there weren’t in the best condition, riddled with potholes and sometimes even missing a net. This challenge helped her to get a better understanding of the game and staying determined in tough climates.

Another hardship that Williams had to overcome was the loss of a loved one. Serena Williams’s sister Yetunde Price was murdered in Los Angeles, California in 2003. Losing her beloved sister wasn’t easy for her to cope with. She lost her drive and motivation to play tennis in the time period following this tragedy and had to go to therapy to overcome her death.

“It real dark period in my life. I went through a depression. I never even talked about it to my Mom,” Williams said in a 2014 article on The Telegraph.com.

Furthermore, Williams career has been riddled with injuries. Most recently she injured her back in the 2014 Australian Open between her second and third round matches. As a result, she had to withdraw from the Qatar Open. This isn’t the first time she got injured in this tournament. For three consecutive years Serena Williams has managed to injure herself during the Australian Open. In 2012 and 2013 she was out with ankle injuries.

“I think I was really, really close to panicking because a similar thing happened to me last year, almost on the same side, same shot. I just had to really remain calm and think things through.” Williams said in a 2013 article on bleacherreport.com.

She didn’t let that injury slow her down, and she played through the pain showing her dedication and determination.

Williams has had to endure her sister’s murder and the lack of motivation that followed. She also had to deal with the aftermath of injuries and recovering from them. Nevertheless, she overcame all of these obstacles and is now still one of the best women’s tennis players of her generation.