Serena Williams has long been admired for her strength, serving up ace perspectives on female empowerment, sexism in sport and speaking out against racial injustice. But being synonymous with strong body confidence is not something that has always sat comfortably with the tennis star.
Speaking to musician and close friend Common about social activism, sport's current battle with gender inequality and body image during the hour-long special for ESPN, The Undefeated In-Depth: Serena With Common, the 35-year-old athlete said that drawing back from interacting with media coverage has helped her to stop scrutinising her own body to empower other women with a similar physique.
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"There was a time when I didn't feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong," she said.
"I had to take a second and think, 'Who says I'm too strong? This body has enabled me to be the greatest player that I can be. And now my body is in style, so I'm feeling good about it. Like, I'm finally in style! It took a while to get there."
She continues, "I'm just really thankful for the way I was brought up by my mum and my dad to give me that confidence. I could have been discouraged, and I wouldn't be as great as I was because I would have done different exercises or I would have done different things. I totally embrace who I am and what I am."
Williams believes past media scrutiny derived from her remaining a "black and confident" woman in a predominantly white sport, but said she never let it stop her from publicly discussing her goals to be number one.
"I never thought, 'I want to open up doors for black athletes,' and then to female athletes. I ended up on this path and people started looking up to me and it was different, because I was like, 'I'm just doing me.' And people were starting to appreciate it; I was, like, 'Wow, OK, that's kind of cool.'"
Common asked Williams if it felt ironic to be part of Nike's "the greatest athlete of all time" campaign given the marginalisation of women and black people in sport. Williams said she wants to be held in the same "greats category" as her male counterparts, rather than being categorised by gender.
"I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is just a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with, as well as being black, so it's a lot to deal with — and especially lately," she said, referring to her raising equal pay during this year's Wimbledon.
"I've been able to speak up for women's rights because I think that gets lost in colour, or gets lost in cultures. We are doctors, we are lawyers, we are athletes, we are everything. We are CEOs. Women make up so much of this world. If I were a man, I would have 100 per cent been considered the greatest ever a long time ago."
Apart from her continued impact on court, Williams has taken the time to speak out against the current racial injustices in America, sexism and launched her own fashion line, the very reasons why Beyonce's recruited the star as part of her powerful Lemonade project.
The racial tensions that have gripped America in recent times hasn't skipped Williams, with the star saying she will no longer remain "silent," taking to her social media platforms to discuss how the violence is affecting her family and community.
"A lot of black people, unfortunately, especially growing up, are discouraged, like, 'You don't look good' or 'Your hair is not pretty' or 'Your skin's too dark.' We were always told to love ourselves. My dad always said you have to know your history, and if you know your past, you can have a great future," she said.
"I wouldn't want to be any other colour. There's no other race, to me, that has such a tough history for hundreds and hundreds of years, and only the strong survive, so we were the strongest and the most mentally tough, and I'm really proud to wear this colour every single day of my life."