The serve | Thinkpiece | Architectural Review
▻https://www.architectural-review.com/rethink/the-serve/10028281.article
The Williams sisters’ feminist space of possibility 23m by 8m long
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Aligning the feet
On 9 July 2016, my little sister’s birthday: Serena Williams won the Wimbledon final, gaining her 22nd grand slam title. The semi-final had seen a showdown between Serena and her sister Venus, one reminiscent of the sibling rivalry which had defined the previous decade: on this court they had met – in 2000, 2003, 2008 and 2009. It was a reminder of the 27 times in total that Venus and Serena have met each other at the final stages of the world’s major tennis tournaments. Since 1995, I had seen these two sisters grow up in the space of the tennis court and claim it as their own.
Holding the ball with fingers in formation
Three months earlier, Beyoncé had released her Lemonade album. Fourth song into the album, between ‘Apathy’ and ‘Emptiness’, Serena Williams had appeared on my screen again, this time taking ownership of a different space; the domestic and the colonial. In ‘Sorry’, Serena strides and grinds through a Louisiana creole plantation house, eventually meeting Beyoncé lounging on a throne in the living room. Beyoncé appears to take back and negotiate the space of her creole ancestors, and darker-skinned Serena Williams is leading the way. ‘I ain’t sorry! I ain’t sorry!’ goes the track: unapologetic and euphoric.