Confidence, Power, and Strength Without Shrinking
This summer, I’ve been in my tennis-watching era, and while that might not sound revolutionary, but here’s what keeps hitting me: every single tournament this season — from Wimbledon (read my full breakdown here) to the US Open — has been a live-action metaphor for Intuitive Fitness.
Resilience. Adaptability. Showing up messy but still showing up. Knowing when to push and when to rest. Honoring the body you’ve got, not the one toxic fitness culture tells you to chase.
That’s why this year’s US Open felt different. Not just because of who played in the final (more on that in a sec), but because the whole women’s tournament was dripping with the kind of energy I coach: Elite Everyday Athlete energy.
“It is my hope that my story, and yours, will inspire all young women out there to push for greatness and follow their dreams with steadfast resilience. We must continue to dream big, and in doing so, we empower the next generation of women to be just as bold in their pursuits.”
Serena Williams
Table of Contents
- Confidence, Power, and Strength Without Shrinking
- Legacy Looks Like This: Althea, Venus, Coco, and the Lineage of Excellence
- What Sabalenka and Anisimova Showed Us About Power
- Hot Girl With a Racket: Anna Kournikova & the Problem With Our Millennial Fitness Blueprint
- This Is What Fitness Should Aspire To: Unapologetic Badassery in Motion
- Ready to Be an Athlete in Your Own Way? Let’s Go.
Legacy Looks Like This: Althea, Venus, Coco, and the Lineage of Excellence
This year’s US Open wasn’t just a tournament — it was a torch passing ceremony.
When Venus Williams stepped onto the court this US Open wearing an outfit honoring Althea Gibson—the first Black athlete to compete in 1950 and then win a Grand Slam title in 1956—she wasn’t just showing up to play. She was showing us who paved the way.
And she wasn’t alone. Coco Gauff and Taylor Townsend joined her in honoring Gibson’s legacy. Gauff is now a household name, and Townsend — unapologetically powerful, joyful, and doing it with poise on her own terms — is a revelation. Together, they continued the living archive across generations of Black women who refused to be told where they didn’t belong.
Even Naomi Osaka’s presence lingers — not just for her gameplay, but for the way she’s rewritten what it means to be an athlete: soft, principled, and fierce all at once. Her courage in stepping back for her mental health makes her a boundary breaker in every sense.
That’s what makes women’s tennis feel like it belongs in the same breath as Intuitive Fitness. It’s not just about athleticism. It’s about identity. Representation. Refusal to perform for a system that was never made for you.
When Gibson won her first Grand Slam, only 5.1% of U.S. tennis players were Black. Today, Black women make up nearly 20% of top-ranked U.S. players in the WTA. Progress doesn’t just happen—it’s served, volley by volley.
These women remind us:
You don’t have to fit the mold to be an athlete.
You just have to decide you’re worthy of showing up.
What Sabalenka and Anisimova Showed Us About Power
The women’s final wasn’t polite tennis. It wasn’t dainty lobs or picture-perfect hair commercials. It was raw power.
Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova stepped onto the court and showed us what happens when women take up space without apology. Their serves cracked like thunder. Their footwork looked like it could tear through concrete. And their facial expressions? Unbothered by whether or not they looked “pretty” while chasing down every damn ball.
This is where body neutrality comes alive: your body is not an ornament, it’s an instrument.
Sabalenka’s groundstrokes are infamous—last season, she hit serves clocking over 120 mph. Anisimova’s forehand is one of the heaviest on tour, often compared to peak Maria Sharapova. These women aren’t winning because of aesthetics; they’re winning because they bring relentless, unapologetic force.
And here’s the kicker: their confidence. My gawd!!! In a world where women are taught to apologize for being too much, both Sabalenka and Anisimova walk on court like the space already belongs to them. That’s not arrogance—it’s liberation.
Hot Girl With a Racket: Anna Kournikova & the Problem With Our Millennial Fitness Blueprint
If you’re a millennial like me, you probably remember during the early 2000s (& our formative puberty years) the woman’s tennis player the media shoved down our throats: Anna Kournikova.
And let’s be real: she was a professional athlete, an incredible one, but that’s not why we heard her name on repeat. It wasn’t her doubles titles. It wasn’t her footwork. It was her looks. She was sexualized, objectified, reduced to “hot girl with a racket” before she could ever be recognized as a player.
That was the culture we grew up in—where women in sports were judged on their aesthetics first, skill second.
Contrast that with today: Sabalenka’s muscular frame is praised, not shamed. Gauff is celebrated for her athletic dominance, not her outfit. Osaka is respected for her mental health advocacy, not her marketability.
We’re living in a new era—and if you’re still stuck punishing your body to fit an outdated standard, it’s time to recognize that fitness can look like something way freer.
Sportswriter Jon Wertheim once observed that Anna Kournikova was “judged more by bikini photos than backhands.”
Source: Sports Illustrated
Another reminder that body image issues don’t start in the gym—they start in the culture. Here’s where I unpack that.
This Is What Fitness Should Aspire To: Unapologetic Badassery in Motion
So let’s put it together:
-
Venus carrying Gibson’s legacy.
-
Gauff and Townsend showing what representation looks like in action.
-
Osaka redefining courage.
-
Sabalenka and Anisimova proving power belongs to women who don’t shrink.
This is women’s tennis in 2025. It’s not a side note. It’s the blueprint for what fitness liberation looks like.
Because being an Elite Everyday Athlete isn’t about podiums or protein macros. It’s about showing up with the same grit, resilience, and unapologetic confidence you see in these women—and bringing it into your own life.
As Gauff herself puts it, “In the past, I would try to fit into whatever box people were trying to put me in… I’ve realized I just have to be myself and people appreciate that.”
Source: Teen Vogue
Ready to Be an Athlete in Your Own Way? Let’s Go.
Here’s the truth: you don’t need to play the US Open to embody this energy.
You don’t need a six-pack. You don’t need 2-a-days at the gym. You don’t need to punish yourself into a body that diet culture deems “acceptable.”
What you need is to step into the Elite Everyday Athlete energy that’s already inside you: the part of you that wants to feel strong, capable, and confident in the body you live in today.
That’s what I do in my Intuitive Fitness Coaching. I help women and non-binary folks like you toss toxic fitness culture out the window and reclaim movement as your tool for sovereignty.
Start here:
Take the “Find Your BadA$$ Fitness Inspiration” Quiz
It’s fun, free, and wildly affirming — and it’ll show you which iconic athlete matches your energy
(plus how to train like her, on your terms).
Once you know your athlete archetype? The next step is yours.
And if you’re ready to move beyond quiz results into real-life
transformation…
I’ve got space for you inside 1:1 Intuitive Fitness Coaching.
This is personalized movement coaching for women and non-binary folks who are ready to:
-
Reclaim body trust
-
Build sustainable strength
-
Drop the toxic fitness rules and train like the elite everyday athlete you already are
Imagine showing up to your workouts with the same confidence Sabalenka shows up to serve. Imagine honoring your rest days with the same unapologetic boundaries Osaka set when she said no to burnout. Imagine feeling your own power without apology.
That’s not a dream—it’s a decision.
That’s resilience. That’s fitness. That’s everything toxic fitness culture gets wrong.
Let’s build something powerful together.
