Serena Williams serves up inspiration for next generation of tennis stars

While tennis great Serena Williams is playing her swan song at the U.S. Open, her inspiration continues to create ripple effects, especially in another young, up and coming tennis star from Compton. 

For most of her life, 16-year-old Kalli Minor, who has been playing tennis since she was 6, has looked up to the Williams sisters. She said she vividly remembers the first time she saw Serena. 

"It was just a regular day," Minor told CBSLA. "I was coming down into the living room and some highlights of Serena Williams popped up, and I guess there was just something about her, seeing how strong she was, seeing someone that looks just like me out there being so strong and in control and looking beautiful."

Venus and Serena have dominated women's tennis since stepping onto the scene nearly 30 years ago. Now, 42 and 40-years-old respectively, the two champions look at an "evolution," as Serena would say, away from professional tennis. Still, their influence on the game will remain unforgettable. 

"She's not only going to inspire this generation, but generations after because of how incredible she is," Minor said and added that watching Serena blaze the path before her as been an incredible inspiration. "Definitely coming up as not just an athlete, but a person of color, seeing all these people and seeing her, especially, in the sport that I'm playing is really amazing." 

Minor, who played the tennis double for Venus in the film "King Richard," said she's also learned from the Williams sisters about the importance of giving back to the community. 

"The program that I started, Rally with Kalli, is to help kids who don't probably have the right resources to start tennis. We did a program back in March 2019, and we had 300 kids come out and we gave them free rackets. We fed them. A lot of kids had a ton of fun," Minor said. 

So, while the greatest of all times may be retiring, her legacy lives on with young women like Minor taking the message of positivity well into the future. 

"Try to make the best of what you can always believe in yourself because anything is possible," Minor said is the message she wants to spread. 

Minor also said there's another Rally with Kalli event coming up around Thanksgiving and hopes that even more people will show up for a bite to eat and a little tennis.