“When I started tennis, first of all, I’m from Compton, CA, and I remember playing on these courts, and my life was great. I never felt like I needed anything. So for me, money was never a motivation,” Williams told the hosts. “I remember when I first started, back in the day, they used to write out checks after you won your tournament. And I would always forget to get the checks. And so at the end of the year they would always have to say, ‘Serena, we have all these checks for you.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ And at the time, I had an accountant who would be like, ‘Serena. They sent me all these checks that you would forget to get from the tournaments.'”
Instead, Williams was more focused on simply winning on the court, and that she did. During her career, she won 23 major (Grand Slam) women’s singles titles, ESPN reports. Additionally, she earned 14 doubles titles with her sister Venus and two mixed doubles titles, CNN states.
Williams retired in September 2022, walking away with 73 singles titles and $94.8 million in prize earnings, per the WTA Tour.
“Looking at the success that I had financially was never my starting point,” she explained on “The Deal” podcast. “My starting point was always I just want to win championships and I want to have fun and I want to be a great tennis player. And quite frankly, I just wanted to win a Grand Slam. And I honestly, for me, everything else was a bonus.”
