Serena Williams Wins 'Game Changer' At People's Choice Awards

The 23-time Grand Slam icon was up on the nominations list in the 'Game Changer Award' category, going against fellow greats like Rafael Nadal and basketball greats Stephen Curry, and Lebron James. Other athletes listed in the category include Russell Wilson, snowboarder Chloe Kim, soccer star Megan Rapinoe, and Nathan Chen. After the recently-concluded awards ceremony, Williams was one of the contenders who emerged as awardees.

It's been quite a memorable year for the tennis maestro, who drew the curtain on her decades-long career some months ago. Williams bowed out of the game to focus on her business initiative, but her impact in sports will keep being evergreen.

This year, the mom of one experienced a first-round defeat at Wimbledon, but this in no way undermines her title as a game-changer. The 41-year-old's career stands for an era of redefinition in tennis, in the sense that Williams, together with other great athletes, refurbished the perception of sports. Some of Williams' other achievements in 2022 include the success of her book and business ventures. She also aced Forbes' ranking of the highest-paid tennis players, beating Nadal to third place.

Speaking to Essentially Sports about her role as a game-changer, Williams noted that all it took was the ability to not be afraid of standing out or being different. She also noted that she enjoyed changing the rules in the game, as it was not something she envisioned she could ever pull off.

Per Insider, it was quite an emotional period when Williams decided it was time she evolved from tennis. The star had battled to the third round in the US Open before bowing out in a fairytale finale. Three months after this, the sports champion piqued fans' curiosity with a telling Instagram update.

She had taken to her stories where she shared the image of a new tennis racket while noting that she was "bored". She would later be seen the same day on the tennis court with her sister, Venus, and retired Polish tennis star Agnieszka Radwanska's sister, Urszula.

This summer, Williams bested the world's no. 2, Anett Konteveit, during the third run of the Grand Slam. It was quite the performance, letting fans know that she was nothing close to rusty. During the final tournament of her career, she hinted that her strong form made it a little bit harder to bow out. She relayed that she got better with each week, and knew that if she played more, she would still be able to complete at the top level.

The tough feeling of belonging on the court seemed to take precedence when the star was at a tech conference in San Francisco. Williams sounded it there for all to hear that she had not retired as there was a high chance she would return.