5 times Serena Williams showed she has no time for your ridiculous criticism

5 times Serena Williams showed she has no time for your ridiculous criticism

There are no limits to how much winning Serena Williams can do. During her impressive two-decade career, the 35-year-old tennis goddess has managed to win 22 Grand Slam titles and a total of 308 Grand Slam victories. And when she's not busy running the world of tennis, you can find her channeling her inner Beyoncè in Delta commercials and teaching random strangers how to twerk on the street.

Although most can't get enough of the athlete's uncanny ability to amaze, she's not without her share of haters and trolls who judge and pick her apart just because of her looks. But Serena has proven time and time again that she's DGAF about what haters have to say. Below are five of those times.

1. Back then, she posted a hilarious video in response to Instagram trolls who made fun of her eyebrows.

Last summer, after winning Wimbledon, Williams shared some sexy bikini pictures from a beach trip overseas. Instead of congratulating her on her well-deserved break, several people commented on her eyebrows and criticized her for their size.

Shortly afterwards, the athlete laughed along and posted a video from a beauty appointment in which she showed off her freshly shaped brows.

"Lol finally getting her in shape! Hahahha #haters I love you!!! Hahah but I still naturally like her! But now you win lol," Williams captioned the post.

A video posted by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Jul 14, 2015 at 3:52am PDT

2. When she clapped back at the people who judged her performance in Beyoncè's Lemonade.

In an interview with the Guardian, Serena opened up about some of the criticism she faced while starring in Beyoncè's Emmy-nominated short film.

While these negative comments were not limited to questioning her participation in the film as an African American woman, she was also teased for looking "too masculine" while dancing in the video.

"Too muscular and too masculine, and then a week later too racy and too sexy. So for me it was really a big joke," she said in the interview.

Her reaction speaks to her mental strength, which has clearly proven to be extremely effective on the pitch. We could all learn a thing or two from this.

3. When she shut down a reporter because he was sexist.

After this year's Wimbledon semifinals, a reporter asked Serena if she should be considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. Her perfect answer: "I prefer the words 'one of the greatest athletes of all time'."

Where most people see walls, Serena sees possibilities. Instead of letting things get in the way, she simply focused on being the best that she can be, despite all the societal, gender and racial limitations.

4. How she responded to criticism after losing her No. 1 ranking.

Last month, Serena lost her No. 1 ranking for the first time in three years - largely because she played eight fewer tournaments than new leader Angelique Kerbe. Although several people said that Serena failed, what she did in 2016 would have been mind-blowing to anyone else in the world.

“I definitely think I could serve better,” she said, defending her defeat. "But that's the beauty of sport. Always opportunities to do better."

5. When she shut down haters for openly criticizing her body since she was a young girl.

In a cover story interview with The Fader, Serena shared how she's learned to tune out the negative jokes surrounding her body.

“People have the right to have their opinions, but what matters most is how I feel about myself,” she said. "That's the message I try to give to other women and especially young girls. You have to love yourself, and if you don't love yourself, no one will. And if you love yourself, people will see that and they will love you too." We can all put this behind us.