All of Serena Williams’ 39 Grand Slam titles came with a Wilson racket and this is what she asked them to do.
Wilson, a sporting goods company, is known for the tennis rackets they provide to some of the best tennis players in the world.
Williams won 23 singles Grand Slam titles, to sit one behind behind Margaret Court[/caption]
The likes of Roger Federer, John McEnroe, Billie Jean King and the Williams sisters all picked up a Wilson racket throughout their careers
Serena won 23 Grand Slam singles titles with a Wilson along with 14 major double titles alongside her sister Venus Williams.
Two years after ending her illustrious career at the US Open, a Wilson racket manufacturer has explained what they did to Serena’s racket that no other player has ever asked for.
Williams was characterised by her power and strength on their court, a trait that almost no other player could match during her peak.
Now Ron Rocchi, Wilson’s racket innovation manager, revealed exactly what they did to her racket to help match her power on the court claiming the American was very specific about what she wanted.
Appearing on an episode of Andy Roddick’s Served Podcast, ‘Wilson’s ‘Rocket Ron’ said: “She said to me if you give me a racket with all the power in the world I will learn to control it.
“It floored me because I had never heard that before. It was true because I would walk her up the power scale and she as an athlete could adapt.”
A lot of tennis players prefer lighter and less powerful rackets as they are easier to control and swing but Williams wanted a racket that would give her the most power on court.
“Looking at how she played the game that power was such an integral part of how she played, her power had to be big, she had to start with that big power game,” Rocci said.
Rocci even went on to explain how they would test rackets with the iconic superstar, claiming that with a low-power racket, she would never miss a ball but Williams felt most comfortable with a powerful racket.
Williams power was a fearsome part of her game[/caption]
“I did put a traditional, really thin-beamed, low-power racket in her hand and in about seven minutes she adapted to it,” he added.
“She didn’t miss a ball for about half hour but she hated it. She was like I can’t hit that opening before my opponent gets there, it’s just the ball isn’t going.
“I was like yeah but you didn’t miss a ball for 30 minutes. She was like it’s not the one for me.”
Ultimately, whatever Wilson did with Williams’ racket worked as she never switched manufacturers in her 27-year career.
Her racket provided her with over 73 WTA singles titles and 23 WTA doubles titles, earning her over $94 million in prize money.
The American put the racket down in 2022 after her third-round exit at the US Open citing that she wanted to expand her family, closing a career that leaves her second in the all-time list for Grand Slams won in the Open Era.
