Serena Williams is still haunted by boos and jokes at the 2001 Indian Wells tennis tournament

In an interview released Wednesday with Will Smith for “Red Table Talk,” Serena Williams reflects on her experience at Indian Wells in 2001 and explains in detail the mental anguish she endured when she returned to the event in 2015 after a long period of ostracism.

“Even when I go back 14 years later, it’s still very traumatic,” Williams said. “Talking about post-traumatic stress and mental anxiety. I remember sitting in the bathroom thinking, ‘Wait, I’m not coming back. I just don’t think I should do this. What will happen? what if they start booing again?” That was really difficult for me. “

In 2001, Russia Elena Dementieva accused Richard Williams, their father, of manipulating matches between Serena, then 19, and Venus Williams, her older sister. The comment gained even more attention after Venus withdrew with a knee injury during her semi-final against Serena shortly before the match started.

When Richard and Venus sat in the stands to support Serena in the final against Kim Clijsters, the crowd started booing loudly. They continued to express their anger towards Serena throughout the match.

Serena eventually beat Clijsters in three sets to claim her second title at Indian Wells, but the mockery continued well after the match ended and grew louder as Serena moved to embrace Venus and kiss her. Richard Courtide.

Richard said he was the target of several racial slurs during the match.

“It was hard,” Serena told Smith. “I’ll never forget driving again, and [sister] Yetunde was there, and I remember when I got in the car and I just stuttered. I was at the gas station, there was no celebration, just crying and crying. “

Serena has spoken out in the past about the damage the incident has caused her, including as a first-person column for Time.com in 2015. before she returned to Indian Wells after 14 years of absence.

However, her interview, published Wednesday, has perhaps marked her most detailed account yet of how back-to-back the event was.

Smith plays Richard Williams in the upcoming biopic “King Richard”. Serena and Venus are executive producers on the project, and both were featured in a one-on-one interview with Smith.