The day Serena Williams silenced a racist crowd

Indian Wells, a small desert town next to Palm Springs in California, USA, is predominantly inhibited by a white affluent population. The town annually hosts the Women Tennis Association (WTA), Indian Wells Masters tier one tournament.

A tier one event is a premier level tennis tournament ranked just a notch below the majors of Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in terms of significance. Tennis superstar Serena Williams had already won an Indian Wells contest in 1999 when she was only 17, defeating German veteran supremo Steffi Graf in three sets in the final.

Serena had previously enjoyed the tournament because Indian Wells was a two-and-a-half-hour drive from her hometown of Compton. Her sisters, Tunde Lyn and Isha, could easily travel and spend time with her and Venus, her other sister—also a tennis household name.

In the March 2001 Indian Wells contest, Serena, 19, started the tournament robustly as did prolific Venus, 22. By then, Venus had won one major title in Wimbledon in 2000 and Serena had won eight tour championships and a 1999 grand slam title at the US Open.

Serena explains in her memoir, On the Line, how the expectant Indian Wells crowd was anticipating a distinguished match up between her and her sister in the semi-final. She defeated her California counterpart Lindsay Davenport in the quarter-finals in straight sets of 6-1, 6-2.

Unfortunately, Venus struggled in her quarter-final contest against Russian Elena Dementieva. She defeated sturdy Elena in straight sets, but the score didn’t reflect her agonising discomfort.

It was an excruciating match and it took a heavy toll on Venus, primarily because Indian Wells was blisteringly hot. She succumbed to exhaustion and an injured left knee that developed tendinitis.

Venus was also severely dehydrated and suffered sore leg cramps at the end of the match. She could hardly breathe when she exited the court and confessed to Serena that she wouldn't play her in the semi-final duel.

Serena was handed a walkover to the final and would face Belgian sensation Kim Clijsters. Fans suspected there was gamesmanship between Venus and Serena.

On the day of the final when Serena walked in to warm up for the final against Kim, spectators immediately began booing. The crowd was incensed and vociferous. It wasn’t just a scattered bunch of boos in one section, it was a confluence of disgust.

What surprised Serena about this uproar was the fact that tennis fans, although jubilant, are typically well-mannered and often display respectful game etiquette.

Serena looked up and all she could see was a sea of Caucasians, dominantly elderly, standing and booing like a genteel lynch mob. When Kim walked in to warm up, she was cheered with extreme excitement, before everyone set their hateful sights on Serena once again.

Racist vitriol of inflammatory epithets started raining down. She heard the word 'nigger' several times from the 14,000 unrelenting spectators and fought back tears.

Just before the start of play, Serena's father, Richard Williams, and Venus walked down the aisle to the players’ box by the side of the court, and everybody turned and started booing them.

In the spacious Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the stairs down the players’ box is long and they endured shouts of "nigger!" and hysterical corrosive voices of "go back to Compton, nigger!"

When Richard got to his seat, he turned and held his fist in the air in a defiant gesture popularised by the Black Panther Party and the African National Congress (ANC). The match kicked off and everything Serena did was rattled with boisterous derogatory insults of "nigger" and Kim’s plays were enthusiastically cheered. Serena's first-serve percentage wasn't exceptional, and she made several unforced errors while hitting balls wide and long.

She felt defeated, deflated and emotionally drained. The hatred subsequently wore her out. During the next changeover, while trailing 1-2 in the second set after losing the first set, Serena sat down and sobbed in her towel. She had played in matches before where the crowd was against her, but in this contest, they were outrageously racist and evil.

She wanted to quit but thought of Althea Gibson, the first black grand slam winner who won the French Open in 1956, and Wimbledon and US Open in 1957 and 1958 respectively. Althea endured disparaging racism and oppression and had to sleep outside in the cold when travelling to those tournaments because she wasn't allowed to stay in hotels.

Serena opted to persevere. She dried her eyes and began a thrilling tenacious turnaround, quieting the crowd. She won the following set, reducing the racist noise to garden heckling.

She displayed her deft class, ending the match in a three set (4-6, 6-4, 6-2) victory. After a successful tournament, the Williamses would be excited. But after this victory, they were all silent during their ride back to Los Angeles, disconcerted by the shock. Serena and Venus boycotted the Indian Wells tournament for the next 14 years, willingly accepting the annual $75,000 hefty fine that came with each boycott, from the insensitive WTA.

The reviewer is a novelist, Big Brother Africa 2 Kenyan representative and founder of Jeff's Fitness Centre (@jeffbigbrother)