Contrary to popular belief, Serena Williams wasn’t born with her powerful, game-changing forehand. The iconic stroke was honed over the year thanks to thousands of hours spent on the public courts with her mother, Oracene, her father, Richard and big her sister, Venus.

But if it wasn’t for Serena’s punk-rock tendencies, that forehand may never have been what it became.

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In Williams’ new eight-part documentary series on ESPN, “In the Arena: Serena Williams,” the 23-time major champion revealed a skateboarding accident seemed to turn her forehand from a liability to a weapon seemingly overnight.

“In the Arena” streams every Tuesday on ESPN+.

“All my dreams weren’t on the tennis court,” Williams said in Episode 1. “I learned guitar and started listening to Green Day. I became a low-key punk rocker because I loved Bad Religion and Rancid. Back then I loved to skateboard. That’s how I got a good forehand.

“One day I was at school and I didn’t want to be there so I just took my skateboard out and I went skateboarding in the neighborhood and fell and hurt my wrist really bad. I never told my dad.

“I couldn’t really hit backhands, so I was like I want to work on my forehand today, I want my forehand to get better.”

Williams, who described herself as undersized and underpowered, suddenly started to rip the ball.

“We remember her forehand getting much bigger after that,” Venus said, laughing. “I thought maybe I should have fallen.”

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It was a pivotal moment for Serena, who described herself as the antithesis of her big sister at the time.

“For me it was always about Venus and Serena,” Serena said. “She was the phenom. My whole game was hitting lobs and drop shots. It’s nothing like my game today. I just wasn’t strong enough. So I would hit lobs and then I’d wait and I’d move my feet really good and  I would hit drop shots. My matches would be, like, two hours.

“I was that kind of player that you hated playing in juniors.”

In “In the Arena,” Williams takes fans inside her career, from its inception on the public courts of Compton, California, all the way through her illustrious professional career. Williams takes viewers inside some of the biggest matches of her career, with honest insight into the wins and losses that defined her career.

In Episode 1, Williams recalls bouncing back from her dispiriting professional debut, a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Anne Miller in the first round of qualifying at Quebec City in 1995 to winning her first Hologic WTA Tour tournament four years later at the 1999 Paris Indoors, where she overcame the partisan crowd to beat Amelie Mauresmo in the final.

That title sparked her memorable 1999 season, which culminated in her first Grand Slam title at the US Open. There, she primed herself to face No.1 Martina Hingis, who defeated Venus one round earlier in the semifinals.

Watching Venus lose, Serena’s competitive intensity ramped up from there.

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“We were doing the coin toss — and I never talked about this — but I lose the coin toss,” Serena said. “I lose the coin toss and the referree and the referee says to Martina, serve or receive.”

Hingis chose to serve.

“I looked at her and I said ‘Are you sure about that?’ and she was, like, startled,” Serena said.

She would win in straight sets.

“Years later, I remember thinking I can’t believe I said that,” Williams said.

Serena Williams’ fans are unsure what to make of her beauty choices as her appearance has continued to be the subject of criticism.

The retired world-class tennis player has been sharing a clip from her “Hot Ones” interview on Instagram, reinvigorating debates about whether her appearance was altered with a physician’s help.

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The popular video shows Williams explaining the backstory of her infamous on-court grunts. In the comments, what person asked, “What did she do to her face?” While another stated, “Her face looks very different.”

Reactions to the clip quickly turned to claims that the seven-time Wimbledon Cup winner had turned to fillers to enhance her appearance.

“Her face is barely moving,” criticized one person, alluding to possible Botox use. A disappointed fan commented, “Love u Serena, wtf is with your lips.” Amid the nitpicking of Williams’ face, several people were determined to defend her against the unkind remarks.

One defense read, “It’s obvious whoever did her makeup tried outlining outside her lip line but it’s not really working for her. Her lips are already full. She doesn’t need to Kylie them up.” Someone else rallying behind Williams wrote, “She literally just has make up on…. you people are miserable.”

And a third laid into the critics when they commented, “Y’all have managed to turn a video about her sport and her CRAFTSMANSHIP nonetheless into a botox witch-hunt. The mental gymnastics to justify criticizing an athlete’s body is actually impressive. Your misogynoir is showing.”

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But debates about Williams smoothing out wrinkles and plumping her face to restore the appearance of her youth were not the only unflattering assessments being made about her appearance.

Once again, the complexion of her skin took the spotlight. “D—n, she’s really going overboard with the skin bleaching,” she wrote one person. A second uttered a similar thought with, “I swear she used to be black.”

The WYN Beauty founder has been accused of skin bleaching on and off for years. In 2021, a photo posted to her Instagram went viral for all the wrong reasons. In the image, Williams’ face seemed to be several shades lighter than anyone had ever witnessed.

As the barrage of cruel comments accusing her of trying to whitewash her image, the photo was deleted. Hours later, many suspected that she posted a more melted flick to shut down the bleaching banter.

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Still, as witnessed in the comments of the “Hot Ones” post, people remain unconvinced that she has not made any efforts to have a more Hollywood-esque look with lighter skin and popular go-to beauty fixes to keep her appearing forever young.