Serena Williams once compared the worth of her own private tennis lessons to that of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. The American made the remarks during her campaign at the 2003 Nasdaq-100 Open.
That year, Williams entered the event (now known as the Miami Open) as the top seed and defending champion. The American was in excellent form, having triumphed at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in 2002. She also began the new season by winning the 2003 Australian Open to complete the career Grand Slam.
Following a first-round bye, Serena Williams commenced her campaign in Miami with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Francesca Schiavone and then defeated Tatiana Panova to reach the fourth round.
During her post-match press conference, the top seed learned that a private tennis lesson by Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf was auctioned for $55,000. When asked what she considered the value of her own session, Williams acknowledged that she had offered a private lesson for the highest bid in an auction by radio host and musician Tom Joyner’s foundation.
“Well, I don’t give private lessons,” she said. “The one for the Tom Joyner Foundation. Oh, well that one, I don’t know. Has it went on auction yet?”
As the auction approached, Serena Williams revealed her strategy to place a $56,000 offer on her own lesson if she felt the bid was too low, just to outdo Agassi and Graf.
“Monday. I mean, if someone puts a low bid in, I’m gonna bid on it myself. Really, I’m going to put $56,000 so I can, you know, get over Steffi and Andre,” she added.
Serena Williams on her private tennis lesson: “Tom Joyner does a lot for black history, we’re doing a slight campaign”
During the same press conference, Serena Williams opened up about offering a private tennis lesson and partnering with Doublemint to raise money for Tom Joyner’s foundation, which provided scholarships to students at historically Black universities and colleges.
The American disclosed that her motivation wasn’t simply to get paid but to make a difference by giving back to her community.
“Well, we just — we’re doing a small thing with the — Tom Joyner does a lot for black history month and black history. We’re just doing a slight campaign. I don’t know, Doublemint is one of our sponsors,” she said.
“We always try to get together, we don’t want to just get paid, we want to actually go out there and give back to communities. That’s what we’re all about when we try to get different deals,” she added.
On the court, Serena Williams went on to defeat Marion Bartoli and Kim Clijsters to reach the 2003 Nasdaq-100 Open final. She faced sixth seed Jennifer Capriati, claiming a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory to successfully defend her title.
