After capturing two Olympic gold medals, Serena Williams won her 35th of 36 single matches at the WTA Tour Cincinnati Open. Besides battling her opponent, Greek qualifier Eleni Daniilidou, she was also fighting to keep her big, beautiful curls out of the game!
Her curls, held back with a headband, were blowing into her face wildly throughout the game.
“I need to calm it down. It’s really big. It was a little windy, so it was getting in my face…” she commented on the battle with her curls.
She attempted to keep them back with what she called “an 80s scrunchie,” but her curls pulled their way back out in the blustery weather. She still came out on top this past Tuesday in spite of how her hair might have affected her game. This stands in contrast to the complete, non-factor hairstyle was in the victories of another double gold medal winner, Gabby Douglas. Although Williams was able to hold on to this victory, Williams was frustrated with her performance. “That’s shocking. It’s unprofessional,” she stated, referring to the 44 unforced errors she made during the match. “Hopefully I clean up my act for my next match”
Williams still expressed a fondness for her curly coiffure, “The look isn’t new. I’ve just let it go super natural and super crazy and not care. It’s fun.” Well, of course we think your curls are fun too, Serena! It’s great that she has chosen to embrace her curls both on and off the court. We curlies can take a lesson from her attitude in that, even if you have moments when your curls seem to get in the way, they don’t have to stand in the way of you doing what you were meant to do.
Besides battling her opponent and her hair, Serena has supported her doubles partner and older sister, Venus, who has been pitted against some chronic health problems. Venus said of her diagnosis with Sjogren’s Syndrome, “It’s still in my body trying to fight against me, but I’m fighting against it as well…I keep working with my doctors…Nothing can prevent bad days, but the bad days aren’t as bad as they used to be. Now I realize I have to hang in there if I’m not having the best day. My main goal is to be 100%, but it’s not like it goes away.”
When you put it into perspective, a challenging hair day isn’t something either of the Williams sisters would let stand in their way!
Do you ever feel like your curls are “throwing off your game” or are they so much a part of you that you never see them that way?
