Serena Williams Reveals How She Forgot To Collect Prize Money Early In Her Career

Serena Williams has many stories to tell from her long tennis career, but a few about money are particularly fascinating.

The legendary American is not competing on the tennis courts anymore, but she’s remained active. The former WTA player was recently a guest on the YouTube show Hot Ones, where she answered a plethora of very interesting questions.

The host, Sean Evans, does a great job asking some really fascinating questions, often inspiring the guests with stories of what he has learned. In the case of Serena Williams, he asked about some things he found out from the early parts of her career.

According to legend, Williams apparently never collected the prize money for some of the events she played at in the first year of her career, and she also tried to cash a one-million check at a drive-thru ATM.

The host wanted to know whether those stories were true, and to the surprise of many, Williams confirmed that both were true. She then further explained that money didn’t interest her, as she only wanted to win.

“Yeah, those are all true. So I never played for money. Like, I played because I loved the sport. I wanted to be the best. I wanted to win. I didn’t even know at the time if I wanted to be the best. I just wanted to win.”

“And so my tax guy would be like, ‘You didn’t get your money?’ I was like, ‘Oh! I didn’t get that one in Zurich. I forgot that one in Moscow. So it was just like, I was playing to win, you know, and if I didn’t win, I was just angry and was just figuring out a way to get better and win the next time.”

Williams grew up to be quite interested in money, even though not primarily when it came to her tennis career, and she’s a dedicated businesswoman today.