Free On the Line by Serena Williams

this story now, people are amazed that I had the nerve to do something this big behind my parents’ backs. They
     say that for an eight-year-old kid to go against authority like this is fairly remarkable—but I didn’t see it that way at
     the time. I thought there was a good chance I’d get into some kind of trouble over it, but that didn’t stop me. I was too
     excited to play to think of any negative consequences. The only potential negative, really, was that I wouldn’t play well,
     but I wasn’t too worried about that. I knew I could beat these girls. As long as I didn’t have to play Venus, I thought I
     had a shot.
    My plan almost backfired, because Venus won her match in no time at all, and before long my dad was looking for me. He didn’t
     like that I wasn’t around watching my sister. He didn’t like that he couldn’t find me. People kind of knew who we were at
     this point, so he started asking people if they’d seen me. He asked one of the tournament officials, and the guy said, “Oh,
     you mean the younger one? She’s playing her match on that court over there.”
    He nodded his head to indicate the court.
    Daddy thought there must be some mistake. He said, “No, sir. She’s not playing. She’s too young. She’s not signed up.”
    The guy said, “No, Mr. Williams. I’m afraid there’s no mistake. She’s in the other half of the draw. She’s playing right now.”
    My father couldn’t believe it, but the guy walked him over to where I was playing. I didn’t know he was there at the time.
     He stayed back, away from the court. That was just as well, since I don’t think I would have noticed him if he’d pulled up
     close. I was too focused on my match to worry what kind of trouble I’d get into once my parents found out I’d entered the
     tournament without their permission. Right then, I was only worried about my opponent. I had just turned eight a week or so
     earlier, but I was determined and single-minded even then. I was trying to run this girl all over the place and tire her out—and
     I was doing a pretty good job of it.
    I ended up winning that match, and when it was over I heard my dad’s sweet drawl coming at me from behind the fence. He said,
     “Meeka! Look at you! You won! You played great!”
    He was so positive, so upbeat. Here I’d thought I’d be in for another whupping, but he couldn’t have been more encouraging.
     I was prepared for punishment—at the very least, I thought I’d get a good talking-to—but it never came, and so for the time
     being I was just happy that Daddy was happy. And he was happy that I was happy.
    He said, “I can’t believe you won. I can’t believe my two girls both won. I’m so proud of you.”
    And he
was
proud, I could see that. He was beaming. My mother, too. And Venus, when she found out what I had done, she had a smile on
     her face like you wouldn’t believe. Not because I’d won, I don’t think, but because I had the brass to enter the tournament
     in the first place. Deep down, I think she knew I’d win if I had the chance to play, so she wasn’t surprised by the outcome.
     She was just surprised to see me playing.
    Right away, Daddy started talking about what I’d have to do to win my next match, the few things he saw in my game I might
     need to fix before the next round. Venus was in the other half of the draw, so I didn’t have to worry about facing her just
     yet. I had two other girls to get past on the way to the finals. I had never given the finals a thought going in, but after
     that first match I thought I could do well. My next opponent was a girl I used to play a lot in practice, so Daddy knew all
     kinds of ways for me to beat her. He said as long as I had entered I might as well go on to the finals.
    I said, “You really think I can beat her?”
    He said, “Meeka, you can do anything.”
    It worked out so he could be at that next match, to cheer me on, and then at the semifinal match, against