Serena Williams just won her 22nd Grand Slam Title: She is now the current owner of ALL the grand slam singles titles:  The US Open, The Australian Open, The French Open, and  now: Wimbledon.   If she wins the US Open again this fall, she will also win the calendar slam — last accomplished by Steffi Graf 1988.

It is virtually impossible to overstate the magnitude of her accomplishments on the tennis court.  Roger Federer (the most dominant male player of the Open era) has won 17 titles to Serena’s 22.  Serena has only lost 3 times in a grand slam final.  The win today at age 33  is 17 years after her first Grand Slam win at age 17.   That is an entire generation in tennis years.   She has experienced a couple slumps, but she is back, stronger, more passionate than ever and playing a level of tennis that is well above any of her competitors.

Yet… why, oh why hasn’t the media adopted her as a US sports icon?  Why does a much less successful player make much more in endorsements?   Serena is the most successfully athlete (male or female) in any sport for the last 15 years.   In addition to being a world-class athlete, she is intelligent and engaging.   I suspect Serena WOULD be a predominant media darling if she were white, blond and willowy.

Serena has experienced racism, she has experienced sexism.  But what is even more disturbing to me (and believe me, the first two points are extremely disturbing):   she has experienced hostility and shaming due to her muscular build. She has curves (the woman has a veritable Rack) and amazing muscle definition.   In other words – she experiences hostility for looking like what she is:  A world class athlete.

Tennis players, like all human beings,  come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.  Some are very slender; others are very muscular, some are curvy, some are flat; and there are many permutations in-between.  I admire and respect both Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, but it hurts my heart and head to know that the Marias of the world will (seemingly) always get the lion’s share of our cultural attention and admiration due to their …. looks;  specifically the type of looks that we have defined as being exceptionally attractive.

If ever met Serena;  I would pick my jaw up from the floor, get her autograph and take a selfie with her; the natural next step would be for me to become her new best friend, and engage in long deep conversations about what has been most challenging to her in her illustrious career.  I would like to know her thoughts on the matter of body-shaming as it applies specifically to her and to women athletes in general.

Until then, Serena will continue to do her talking on the court; and she has a LOT still to say!