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Serena Williams: Why She Smashes Her Rackets, And How’s She’ll Protect Herself From The Zika Virus At The Olympics

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 06:34 PST, Jul 14, 2016

Serena Williams thinks it’s “sad” so many pro athletes have decided to skip the Olympics 2016, according to News One. A number of athletes have expressed their concerns over security and the deadly Zika virus in Brazil.

And Serena Williams said she thinks it’s “sad” so many athletes have opted to miss the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer just because of their fears about the Zika virus. The 34-year-old professional tennis player issued her statement to professional athletes after the world’s best golfer, Jason Day, announced he won’t take part in the Olympics 2016.

But in Day’s case, Serena Williams might, in fact, be right, as it will be the first time in more than a century golf is included in the list of Olympic competitions. As for her own safety, Williams doesn’t fear much as long as she stays up to date about the situation in Rio, she said.

Serena Williams, who is an Olympic champion in both the singles and doubles competitions, said it’s of high importance to be aware of the situation surrounding the Zika virus in Rio and knowing all protection measures.

“It is really one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had. It’s difficult for someone that is in a sport like golf because their main goal, like tennis, is to win Slams.”

But Serena Williams said she completely understands why so many professional athletes are concerned over the upcoming Olympics in Rio and what they felt when announced they won’t participate in competitions at this summer’s biggest sports event.

“Part of me feels that way, too, which is why I’m going in, you know, with a whole mindset of how do I protect myself, how do I prevent and also raise awareness for this.”

Apart from golfer Jason Day, such athletes as Fernando Verdasco, John Isner, Sam Querrey, and Dominic Thiem have opted to skip this summer’s Olympics in Rio. But Serena Williams loves the experience of being an Olympic athlete, which is one of the reasons why she won’t quit this year’s competition.

Serena Williams said her experience at the Olympics has been “really amazing,” adding that she loves competing and just standing out there being an Olympic athlete.

Serena Williams might have eased into the Wimbledon semi-finals with a straight-sets win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but it doesn’t mean she can’t smash her racket in front of everybody, according to People magazine.

And now Serena Williams is being fined $10,000 for her unprofessional behavior on the court, smashing the racket five times and throwing in backward. As explained by Williams herself in her interview with the Guardian, she was “just really angry.”

“I had a lot of chances. [Christina McHale] got really lucky on some shots. She just was playing great. I was a little disappointed in myself at that point.”

The incident took place at the very beginning of the match against McHale last Friday, but Serena Williams still managed to win the final set. The tennis player then joked at a press conference after the match that she had not yet reached her quota on smashing rackets this season.

In fact, Serena Williams doesn’t think it’s such a big deal as she has smashed “a number” of rackets over the years of her career. And she has gotten fined “a number of times” for smashing those rackets.

But it appears that smashing rackets is some kind of indication of how well Serena Williams plays. For example, she didn’t smash a single racket at the French Open or Rome, so it means she did really well.

“I don’t want to go too long without cracking a racket.”

Explaining the most recent incident, Serena Williams said she felt like she was in a “warrior mode,” adding that it was as if she was playing for her life and to stay in the competition.

[Photo by AP Photo/Ben Curtis]

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