Serena talks about outburst, Kanye, and her new book

12:45 PM on 09/17/2009

READ MORE: Kanye West, On the Line, Serena Williams, US Open, New York

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In New York City, thGrio caught up with Serena Williams as she celebrates gracing the cover of Hamptons magazine and a new book.

Serena expressed some of the reasons behind her writing her book, On the Line, "it's not only a memoir, but it is also a motivational piece because I talk a lot about me growing up as a tennis player and the hardships. But a lot of the meat of the story is when I was number 1 and a lot of people saw me as the athlete that never loses and then all of a sudden my whole world came crashing down, I had surgery, my sister was murdered and I had to deal with all of this stuff, so I stopped playing...people wrote me off and said I would never be able to win..."

Like most successful athletes, Serena is in top physical condition. She feels most of it is just good genes, "I don't even lift weights, I do a lot of running, and I swing the rackets a lot...other than that - [I get it from] my mom," said Venus when referring to her physique.
While Serena celebrates the cover of Hampton's magazine and her new book she wasn't able to celebrate a US open win this year. Serena lost in the semi finals after she was docked a point for yelling profanities at a lineswoman.

That point ended up being a match point, but Serena says that her opponent earned the victory fairly, "She was playing so well and I wasn't playing my best tennis...yeah I got a bad call, but that doesn't make the match. I think she played well and ultimately she deserved the win..."

Serena was at the MTV video music awards on Sunday and watched Kanye West have his own outburst.

"My mouth was open like, huh oh my God, and I didn't really believe it was happening, but at the end with Taylor being able to come out because Beyonce brought her out I think it was honorable and brought everything full circle," said Serena.

While Serena has had a rollercoaster week, she wants people to take something positive away from her book, "Whether you're playing tennis, or writing, or mowing grass, just go out there and do it the best you can," said the Tennis star.

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In New York City, thGrio caught up with Serena Williams as she celebrates gracing the cover of Hamptons magazine and a new book. Serena expressed some of the reasons behind her writing her book, On the Line, "it's not only a memoir, but it is also a motivational piece because I talk a lot about me growing up as a tennis player and the hardships. But a lot of the meat of the story is when I was number 1 and a lot of people saw me as the athlete that never loses and then all of a sudden my whole world came crashing down, I had surgery, my sister was murdered and I had to deal with all of this stuff, so I stopped playing...people wrote me off and said I would never be able to win..." Like most successful athletes, Serena is in top physical condition. She feels most of it is just good genes, "I don't even lift weights, I do a lot of running, and I swing the rackets a lot...other than that - [I get it from] my mom," said Venus when referring to her physique. While Serena celebrates the cover of Hampton's magazine and her new book she wasn't able to celebrate a US open win this year. Serena lost in the semi finals after she was docked a point for yelling profanities at a lineswoman. That point ended up being a match point, but Serena says that her opponent earned the victory fairly, "She was playing so well and I wasn't playing my best tennis...yeah I got a bad call, but that doesn't make the match. I think she played well and ultimately she deserved the win..." Serena was at the MTV video music awards on Sunday and watched Kanye West have his own outburst. "My mouth was open like, huh oh my God, and I didn't really believe it was happening, but at the end with Taylor being able to come out because Beyonce brought her out I think it was honorable and brought everything full circle," said Serena. While Serena has had a rollercoaster week, she wants people to take something positive away from her book, "Whether you're playing tennis, or writing, or mowing grass, just go out there and do it the best you can," said the Tennis star.