Sixteen years old, and getting to No. 1 in juniors as a Black girl from the South Side? I was so proud of that. I was so proud of who I was, and what I’d achieved. And I think I had it in my head, like, alright — I know I might be an outsider in this sport. I know I might not be like all these other tennis kids. But once I got to No. 1?? Once I climbed that mountain?? Now they'll be proud to have me. Now I'll be treated like a part of American tennis. Now I'll be one of them.
Doesn’t exactly work that way, though, does it.
As a matter of fact….. it worked pretty much exactly the opposite.
It worked the way things usually work in a country that hates fat Black women.
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