Serena Williams’ secret to success is about more than talent: You have to grind ‘every day’

It’s an old adage that practice makes perfect—something tennis star Serena Williams knows all too well.

She echoes the sentiment that success requires constant dedication, and she reflects that philosophy in her athletic and business endeavors; persistence and determination are winning traits for sweeping a match, or leading an entrepreneurial venture. And she’s proving that the grind never stops with her return to the sport at this year’s HSBC Championships, where she’ll compete in doubles with Canadian athlete Victoria Mboko at the London event.

“Tennis is [played] every day, you have to do it every day. You have to train, and business is the same,” Williams told CNBC Make It in a 2025 interview. “It is exactly the same. You have to be very disciplined.”

“You also have to be determined through ups and downs, be determined to keep going.”

Williams has won 23 Grand Slam titles throughout her 27-year stint as the darling of tennis; in 2022, the Olympic athlete decided to step away from the sport to focus on her business work. She started a capital fund called Serena Ventures in 2014, where she uplifted diverse entrepreneurs, boasting its Fund 1 investments were 79% underrepresented founders, 54% women founders, 47% Black founders, and 11% Latino founders. Serena Ventures raised $111 million during its early-stage........

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