After A 14-Year Boycott, Serena Williams Makes Emotional, Triumphant Return To Indian Wells
An emotional and visibly tearful Serena Williams made a glorious return to Indian Wells, California at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, triumphantly taking in the crowd’s cheers and waving American flags, after she defeated Monica Niculescu in two sets (7-5, 7-5).
The atmosphere at Indian Wells on Friday was a very different scene from one 14 years ago, when the crowd booed and jeered the teenaged tennis phenom, and allegedly hurled racial epithets at her, her sister Venus Williams, and her father Richard Williams. At that time, the Williams family said they would never set foot in the stadium again.
In 2001 at Indian Wells, Serena defeated Kim Clijsters of Belgium but was booed by an American crowd after she won over a Belgian.
“When Venus and I were walking down the stairs to our seats, people kept calling me [expletive],” Williams said. “One guy said, ‘I wish it was ’75; we’d skin you alive.’ That’s when I stopped and walked toward that way. Then I realized that (my) best bet was to handle the situation non-violently. I had trouble holding back tears. I think Indian Wells disgraced America.”
http://blackamericans.com/other-new...s-emotional-triumphant-return-to-indian-wells
An emotional and visibly tearful Serena Williams made a glorious return to Indian Wells, California at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, triumphantly taking in the crowd’s cheers and waving American flags, after she defeated Monica Niculescu in two sets (7-5, 7-5).
The atmosphere at Indian Wells on Friday was a very different scene from one 14 years ago, when the crowd booed and jeered the teenaged tennis phenom, and allegedly hurled racial epithets at her, her sister Venus Williams, and her father Richard Williams. At that time, the Williams family said they would never set foot in the stadium again.
In 2001 at Indian Wells, Serena defeated Kim Clijsters of Belgium but was booed by an American crowd after she won over a Belgian.
“When Venus and I were walking down the stairs to our seats, people kept calling me [expletive],” Williams said. “One guy said, ‘I wish it was ’75; we’d skin you alive.’ That’s when I stopped and walked toward that way. Then I realized that (my) best bet was to handle the situation non-violently. I had trouble holding back tears. I think Indian Wells disgraced America.”
http://blackamericans.com/other-new...s-emotional-triumphant-return-to-indian-wells