Serena Williams playing tennis with former US President Donald Trump resurfaces
A video of Serena Williams playing tennis with former US President Donald Trump has resurfaced, taking the internet by storm.
The incident happened in 2015, when Trump inaugurated a new tennis center at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. The business mogul invited Williams, who was then ranked World No. 1, to hit the ceremonial first serve on the court.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion served to Trump to kick off proceedings, following which he hit a deep return to the American legend, only to miss the sidelines by a long distance in his very next shot.
The second point between the two, though, was more of a rally, which Trump surprisingly won. However, it seemed to everyone gathered that Serena Williams intentionally let her opponent win to help him save face.
Here's a video of the incident:
For no discernible reason, the video resurfaced on X (formerly called Twitter) earlier this week, following which it has gone viral. As of now, the tweet has garnered 10.4 million views on the side, along with more than 36,000 likes and more than 7,000 retweets and quote tweets.
The tweet (posted by username: '@TAftermath2020') was captioned:
"Donald Trump 6’3” 215lbs of peak performance. Playfully played Serena Williams with a suit and no shoes."Serena Williams once commented on prospect of playing in front of Donald Trump at Wimbledon
Three years later, after Donald Trump had become the President of the United States, there was a possibility that he could show up at Wimbledon to watch Serena Williams in action, as he was scheduled for a UK trip at the time.
When asked about whether that could potentially distract her or weigh on her, the 23-time Grand Slam champion firmly answered in the negative. Williams was more concerned by her own progress in the tournament, saying that Trump could do whatever he wanted.
"I feel like he has the right to do whatever he wants to do. If he wants to come to a Wimbledon final, he has that right. I hope I'll be there. I still have a lot of matches to win. For me, I can't even think that far. I'm just thinking one at a time," Williams said.Williams was on the hunt for her elusive 24th Major trophy at the Grass Major that fortnight, but her campaign came to an unfortunate end in the final against Angelique Kerber.
Quick Links
More from Sportskeeda
" modalPopup.closeOnEsc = false; modalPopup.setHeader("Why did you not like this content?"); modalPopup.setContentText(modalText); modalPopup.addCancelOkButton("Submit", resetRatingAndFeedbackForm, sendRating); modalPopup.removeCloseModalIcon(); modalPopup.disableDismissPopup(); modalPopup.open(); } else { sendRating(index); } } function sendRating() { var requestPayload = { "post_id": 1704624, "rating_value": ratingValue } if (ratingValue > 3) { requestPayload.rating_feedback_type = null; requestPayload.rating_feedback = null; } else { if (!$('input[name="drone"]:checked') || !$('input[name="drone"]:checked').value) { showErrorMessage('option'); return; } if (!$(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea") || !$(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea").value) { showErrorMessage('note'); return; } var selectedOption = $('input[name="drone"]:checked').value; var feedbackNote = $(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea").value; requestPayload.rating_feedback_type = selectedOption; requestPayload.rating_feedback = feedbackNote; } pureJSAjaxPost(addratingAPI, requestPayload, onsaveRatingSuccess, onsaveRatingFail, function() {}, true); } function resetRatingAndFeedbackForm() { var activeStars = Array.from($all('.rating span.rating-star.active')); for (var i=0; i < activeStars.length; i++) { activeStars[i].classList.remove("active"); } if ($('input[name="drone"]:checked')) { $('input[name="drone"]:checked').checked = false; } var userNote = document.querySelector(".post-rating-feedback-note textarea"); userNote.value = ''; modalPopup.close(); } function onsaveRatingSuccess() { modalPopup.close(); savePostIdInUserRatedPostsCookie(); $("#post-rating-layout").classList.add("hidden"); $("#post-rating-message").classList.remove("hidden"); window.setInterval(function showMessage() { $("#post-rating-widget").classList.add("hidden"); }, 3000); } function onsaveRatingFail() { console.error('Saving post rating failed!'); modalPopup.close(); } function savePostIdInUserRatedPostsCookie() { userRatedPostIds.push(1704624); var expiryTime = new Date(); expiryTime.setMonth(expiryTime.getMonth() + 12); // Expiry after 1 year setCookie("user_rated_post_ids", JSON.stringify(userRatedPostIds), expiryTime); } function isPostRatedByUser() { var userRatedPostIds = getCookie('user_rated_post_ids'); if (userRatedPostIds) { try { userRatedPostIds = JSON.parse(userRatedPostIds); } catch (err) { console.error(err); return false; } } else { return false; } if(userRatedPostIds.indexOf(1704624) >= 0) { return true; } else { return false; } } function getRatingCountByPostId(postId) { return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) { pureJSAjaxGet( getRatingCountBaseURL + postId + '/rating/count', function(data) { try { data = JSON.parse(data); if (data.meta_value) { resolve(data.meta_value); } reject("Failed to fetch rating count for the post:" + postId); } catch (err) { reject("Failed to fetch rating count for the post:" + postId); } }, function(err) { reject("Failed to fetch rating count for the post:" + postId); }, true); }); } function showErrorMessage(messageType) { var messageContainerId = '#' + messageType + '-error'; $(messageContainerId).classList.remove('hidden'); window.setInterval(function () { $(messageContainerId).classList.add("hidden"); }, 5000); } (function() { var callFired = false; function lazyLoadPostRating() { if (callFired) return; callFired = true; if (!isPostRatedByUser()) { getRatingCountByPostId(1704624) .then(function(ratingCount) { if (ratingCount < 10) { $("#post-rating-widget").classList.remove("hidden"); } }) .catch(function(err){ console.error(err); }); } } document.addEventListener("scroll", lazyLoadPostRating, { passive: true, once: true }); document.addEventListener("mousemove", lazyLoadPostRating, { passive: true, once: true }); document.addEventListener("touchmove", lazyLoadPostRating, { passive: true, once: true }); })();ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tLzOq6uso5WasaJ6wqikaKyVo7uqv46nnLCrXayuta%2FHZqqeqpWjrm7DyKWjopmdqHqxuMCyoKefXamyr7rIrGSfp6KisrN51KxkqaqVqLalsc2tZJ2nnpa5pXnTq6ymqF2nsrTB0Z%2BYnJ2j