Serena Williams matched Steffi Graf’s 22 singles Slam titles this year. But Serena also lost her #1 ranking to Angelique Kerber, and Serena failed to medal at the Rio Olympics, and she only won one major in 2016. And she turned 35 years old. She’s still a young woman, of course, but there aren’t many people or athletes in history that can provide any kind of insight into what Serena is doing at this point. By any metric which we use to measure athletes, she should have retired years ago. And yet she’s still a force to be reckoned with, she’s still reaching and striving to be the greatest, to be her best even when her best has no roadmap. So in this crap-heap of a year, Serena has written an open letter to all women striving for excellence. She wrote this for Porter Magazine’s Women of 2016 issue, and The Guardian re-published it:

To all incredible women who strive for excellence,

When I was growing up, I had a dream. I’m sure you did, too. My dream wasn’t like that of an average kid, my dream was to be the best tennis player in the world. Not the best “female” tennis player in the world. I was fortunate to have a family that supported my dream and encouraged me to follow it. I learned not to be afraid. I learned how important it is to fight for a dream and, most importantly, to dream big. My fight began when I was three and I haven’t taken a break since.

But as we know, too often women are not supported enough or are discouraged from choosing their path. I hope together we can change that. For me, it was a question of resilience. What others marked as flaws or disadvantages about myself – my race, my gender – I embraced as fuel for my success. I never let anything or anyone define me or my potential. I controlled my future.

So when the subject of equal pay comes up, it frustrates me because I know firsthand that I, like you, have done the same work and made the same sacrifices as our male counterparts. I would never want my daughter to be paid less than my son for the same work. Nor would you.

As we know, women have to break down many barriers on the road to success. One of those barriers is the way we are constantly reminded we are not men, as if it is a flaw. People call me one of the “world’s greatest female athletes”. Do they say LeBron is one of the world’s best male athletes? Is Tiger? Federer? Why not? They are certainly not female. We should never let this go unchallenged. We should always be judged by our achievements, not by our gender.

For everything I’ve achieved in my life, I am profoundly grateful to have experienced the highs and lows that come with success. It is my hope that my story, and yours, will inspire all young women out there to push for greatness and follow their dreams with steadfast resilience. We must continue to dream big, and in doing so, we empower the next generation of women to be just as bold in their pursuits.

[From The Guardian]

Much like the evolution of Beyonce, I’ve enjoyed the evolution of Serena in her 30s. Serena and Bey are the same age (allegedly, in Beyonce’s case) and they’ve followed a similar path of high-achievement, an awakening feminism and social consciousness and a desire to inspire girls and women around the world. And for me, Serena is absolutely right there with Roger Federer, LeBron, Michael Jordan, Mohammed Ali: she is one of the greats, one of the icons, one of the most inspirational people in the world. [HEART EMOJI]

Photos courtesy of WENN.