Serena Williams shared a funny anecdote about trying to deposit a very large check on a car during her career.
Tennis exceptional Serena Williams was loved and respected for her activism, but in a recent interview, she shared a story about how her focus led to an accident at a bank window.
Williams was the guest on a recent episode of the highly popular Hot series of First we celebrate. During the interview, as Williams began to dig into some spicy feathers, at the 11-minute mark host Sean Evans asked: “It's true that you rarely collected your winnings in your first year on tour and then once you tried unsuccessfully to cash out the first you check for a million dollars at an ATM?'
“Yes, all of that is true,” confirmed the 23-time Grand Slam champion. “I never played for money, I played because I loved the sport. I wanted to be the best. I wanted to win.” She continued, saying, “Well, my tax man, would he say, 'Didn't you get your money?' and I'd say, “Oh, I didn't get that in Zurich,” “Oh, I forgot that in Moscow,”… I was just playing to win, and if I didn't win, I wasn't thinking. I was so angry that I wanted to find a way to be better and win next time.”
It turned out that her focus led her to amass a very significant amount of profit. “I got my check and it was a million dollars,” Williams said. “Well, okay, I'm going to file it. I never spent much money. I was so serious. I don't know what happened to me, I used to be serious. So I just drove by… and the guy said, “Hey, I think you should go in for this.” Evans and Williams laughed as he said, “Lessons to learn.”
The story was one of the few notable anecdotes Williams shared, including a look at the stylish outfits she wore during her career, including a denim suit she said was inspired by another tennis champion, Andre Agassi, who wore on the field. Her Hot The appearance comes as an ESPN+ documentary series, In The Arena: Serena Williams debuts on Wednesday (July 10).
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Photo: Erika Goldring/Getty
