Serena Williams gives Caitlin Clark a high grade for how she is handling the onslaught of publicity.
Williams, 42, spoke to reporters at the Tribeca Festival, where her docuseries “In the Arena: Serena Williams” premiered earlier this week, and was asked what advice she’d have for Clark.
“I just love that she tries to stay grounded. She said that she doesn’t look at her social [media],” Williams said.
“I get it. I don’t look at it either. It’s so important to continue to do what she’s doing. No matter what other people do, if people are negative, it’s because they can’t do what you do, basically. Hopefully she’ll continue to do what she’s doing.”
Prior to getting asked about Clark, Williams recalled getting a torrent of negative attention when she was a young rising star.
“I was bullied,” Williams said, clarifying that she detailed it in her book but it wasn’t heavily covered in the documentary.
“Things that I had to go through, now people would be canceled for saying [what they did] back then.”
Clark, who is effectively playing a second consecutive season in her WNBA rookie year after completing her collegiate career in April, has repeatedly taken the high road amid a barrage of verbal and physical slights on and off the court.
This past April, Williams, a 23-time tennis major winner, expressed interest in potentially owning a WNBA team one day.
“I absolutely would be (interested). With the right market, I would definitely be super interested in that,” Williams told CNN.
The comments were coming off of Clark and Iowa’s national championship loss to South Carolina, which drew a remarkable 18.9 million viewers.
“We just needed the right catalyst and the right people and I think that’s been happening over the past two years. I think women’s sport is having a moment that it should have always had… Now it’s time to lift up others sports, women’s soccer, women’s basketball,” Williams said.
