This Photographer Built Trust With an Injured Serena Williams

Plus, photos from Williams’s first round at the 2022 U.S. Open.

Editors’ note: This story has been updated to reflect Serena Williams’s announcement of her impending retirement from tennis. It was originally published Feb. 10, 2021.

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Williams celebrates her win in the first round of the 2022 U.S. Open :: Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

When Serena Williams announced her plan Aug. 9, 2022, to begin “evolving away from tennis,” the world seemed to stop. An icon both on and off the court, Williams will likely step away from her tennis career following the U.S. Open, a tournament in which she has a “complicated” history, according to Jon Wertheim.

Her first-round match Monday to open the first Arthur Ashe Stadium night session of the fortnight was nothing short of a spectacle.

Williams prepares to hit a backhand :: Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Williams came out to a raucous ovation and cruised to a 6–3, 6–3 win over Danka Kovinić.

Williams’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, and daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., were there to cheer her on :: Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

“The crowd felt bigger and louder than a final,” SI’s director of photo operations Erick W. Rasco said. “It was possibly their last chance to see the GOAT take the court. Win or lose, they were there for Serena.”

A packed Arthur Ashe Stadium was filled with emotional fans :: Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Her serve, arguably the greatest single shot in women’s tennis history, helped control the match, finishing with nine aces and 77% of her first-serve points won.

Williams serves during her first round match at the 2022 U.S. Open :: Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

The match was followed by a celebratory ceremony, which demonstrated the strong connections Williams has built with tennis fans throughout her career.

Her ability to forge those connections, both on a personal and larger scale, is reflected in Rohan Nadkarni’s story from Feb. 10, 2021, about a portrait session involving Williams and Jeffery A. Salter. That story has been republished below.

—Josh Rosenblat

Veteran photographer Jeffery A. Salter was on vacation in Venice, Italy, when he found out he would be shooting Serena Williams for the cover of the 2019 Fashionable 50 Issue. Salter was dealing with spotty Wi-Fi issues as he quickly began contacting crew members in London—where the shoot was to take place—to figure out how to properly stage one of the most dominant athletes in history.

Salter says ultimately it was important for him to not only capture Williams’s athleticism but also her royalty and sense of high fashion. It wasn’t going to be easy. The shoot took place only days before Wimbledon, and Williams was forced to show up hours late that day because of a back injury sustained during practice, which required a trip to the doctor. (Williams would make the tournament final, anyway, finishing second before dealing with back issues throughout the rest of the year.) Fortunately for Salter, he was able to break the ice with Williams by recalling a previous time he had photographed her in her closet for a separate magazine.

“Photography is not only about the lights or the camera,” Salter says. “It’s about trying to make a connection with the athlete.”

Jeffery A. Salter/Sports Illustrated

For the cover, Salter ordered six different columns of varying heights to ensure Williams would be staged in the most flattering manner. In the photographer’s mind, the look captured both Williams’s dynamism as an athlete as well as a sense of freeness. And even with her injured back, Williams quickly reminded everyone why she’s one of the best athletes in the world, no matter the sport.

“While I was doing the testing, everybody in the crew at one point had their leg up on a column, and it was not easy,” Salter recalls. “When Serena came, she did it on high heels. And she was on the tallest column. And it was no problem for her.”

As for how he helped motivate Williams to power through despite not being at 100%, Salter mentions how he involved Williams in the process by having her offer input on the photos as they were taken.

“She’s the top tennis player in the world, and I’m a photographer whose claim to fame is kayaking off the coast of Miami Beach,” Salter says. “It’s really about trust, and you have to build a trust no matter who it is. That’s the key ingredient to a great shoot.“

Courtesy of Jeffery A. Salter

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