Anything Serena Williams does basically breaks the Internet. Whether she’s braiding baby Olympia’s hair or winning Grand Slams, Williams is loved by people—and rightfully so. This morning, Harper’s Bazaar posted its August issue with the tennis star appearing on the cover unretouched in a shimmery gold Ralph Lauren dress, Louboutin heels and Bvlgari jewelry.
“I felt defeated and disrespected by a sport that I love—one that I had dedicated my life to and that my family truly changed, not because we were welcomed but because we wouldn’t stop winning.”
Accompanying the cover is a personal essay by Williams in which she gets candid about her controversial U.S. Open final match against Naomi Osaka last year. During that faceoff, she was issued a violation after the umpire accused her coach of signaling to her, leading the athlete to break her tennis racket in frustration and being hit with a $17,000 fine. “I felt defeated and disrespected by a sport that I love—one that I had dedicated my life to and that my family truly changed, not because we were welcomed but because we wouldn’t stop winning,” she writes. Williams adds that that she even started seeing a therapist following the incident.
While the issue doesn’t hit newsstands until July 23, you can read Serena Williams’s full essay here.
