Serena Williams showed the world that black women excel. That has changed us all | Afua Hirsch

Born in the same year as the tennis champion, I watched her face countless obstacles - and become the greatest of all time

We don't deserve Serena Williams. Nothing about this world makes it likely that a little black girl from Compton - now evolving" away from professional competition after her final match at the US Open - would become an indisputable Goat.

Witnessing Williams's ascension to Greatest of All Time status has been an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime experience. The sheer longevity of her career sunk in for me when I discovered that Emma Raducanu, who Williams has played this season, had not even been born during one of Williams's most memorable seasons: 2002, when she won three grand slam titles in a row.