Serena Williams Reveals Split Persona Tequanda Is Not Christian
Serena Williams, the 31-year-old professional tennis star, is revealing that she deals with tough situations in life by creating other personalities.
Williams is slated to release a documentary with her tennis-playing sister Venus Williams, 33, titled, "Venus and Serena." In the documentary, the younger Williams speaks about her multiple personalities, including one named Tequanda that the world witnessed cursing at a line judge during the 2009 U.S. Open.
Williams spoke about the roles of the different personalities in her life.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"I definitely have different personas. There's Summer," Williams said in the documentary, according to The New York Post. "She helps me out a lot. Like, if I have to write long letters. [Then] there's Tequanda."
Although Williams has been vocal about her Jehovah's Witnesses religion in the past, she admitted that her alternate persona Tequanda does not share in her faith.
"Tequanda is rough. She is not Christian," Williams said in her documentary. "She's from the 'hood. She was at the US Open in 2009.I wasn't there, but I heard about it . . . "
In 2009, Williams lost the U.S. Open title to an unranked Kim Clijsters after a double foot-fault was called on the former in the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournament. Williams reacted by cursing at the line judge who made the call, reportedly saying, "I swear to God I'm [expletive] going to take this [expletive] ball and shove it down your [expletive] throat, you hear that? I swear to God," according to ESPN reports.
Although Williams told The New York Times Magazine that she believes the line judge made a bad call, she also said she may have shocked some familiar with her religious beliefs.
"What bothered me most was that I was representing my religion. I just felt like anyone who knew I was a Witness was stumbled and I really don't want to stumble anyone," Williams told the magazine. "They had to have a talk with me. And I knew it was coming."
Maiken Baird co-directed "Venus and Serena" with television news producer Michelle Major, and spoke more about Williams' alternate personas.
"Serena has these multiple personalities that she uses to cope with life," Baird said in The New York Post report. "Some people really compartmentalize their lives, and Serena is one of them. She's got that real mean streak that makes her so great, and then she's got this really sweet side."
The Williams sisters were filmed for 10 months in 2011 for their documentary "Venus and Serena" which premieres August 23 on Showtime.
