Serena Williams plays it up for The New York Times

8-time Grand Slam champion Serena "ReRe" Williams recently pulled out of the Pilot Pen, the last warm-up before the US Open. Her chances of showing up at the year's final Grand Slam and making a run are, at this point, slim to none.

This news didn't stop The New York Times from profiling ReRe in their Sunday supplement, PLAY. The article is a familiar story: Serena the player, the part-time actress, the party-hopper, and champion. However, the images are beautiful.


"If you think of the tennis world, it's not that big," said ReRe. "There's the big picture, people dying overseas in the war, and people giving to charities, and people changing lives. . . . Tennis, in comparison, is not that big. And if you keep it in perspective, you can play even better. If I lose, you know what? I lose."

(images courtesy of NYT)