Before she was a tennis star, before she was a world-wide brand, before she was on track to become the fourth woman in tennis history to complete a calendar year Grand Slam: Serena Williams was just a talented young girl from Compton, California.
Since then, she and her sister, Venus, have reshaped the tennis world.
"Tennis is considered a white, country club sport, and here was this pair of sisters from the courts of Compton, and this crazy dad who made these outrageous predictions, and a lot of people didn't know what to do with this," said
, who writes about sports for Grantland. "A lot of people wanted no part of it. But she [Serena] both won, and became one of the most compelling personalities in sports."
To hear more on the Williams sisters and what stands between Serena and history, click on the blue audio player above.