Serena Williams’s Personal Twitter Emoji Perfectly Matches Her GOAT Status

Image Source: Getty / Xinhua News Agency

Serena Williams is the indisputable GOAT, or greatest of all time, of tennis, so it feels very fitting for her to receive a personal GOAT hashtag emoji (aka hashmoji) on Twitter. Williams is only the second woman to get the GOAT hashmoji treatment, following none other than Simone Biles, who received hers before the 2021 Olympics last year. While Biles’s GOAT was (of course) doing the splits, Williams’s is pictured midserve, wearing one of her distinctive, multilayered tennis skirts. The hashmoji will automatically populate any time users tweet #Serena, #SerenaWilliams, or #ThankYouSerena.

The Twitter nod comes just as Williams is set to start playing in the US Open, which she’s hinted may be her last professional tournament ahead of retirement, or as Williams calls it, her “evolution.” The 23-time Grand Slam winner has mixed feelings about ending her tennis career. “It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine,” she said in a Vogue cover story earlier this month. “I hate that I have to be at this crossroads. . . . I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next.”

Meanwhile, the tributes are already rolling in, including a Beyoncé-narrated ad from longtime sponsor Gatorade; grateful comments from competitors like Naomi Osaka, who called Williams “the biggest force in the sport”; and, of course, the new GOAT hashmoji on Twitter. Williams might be reaching the end of her legendary career, but FWIW, Twitter says she’s as influential as ever. She ranked among the top 20 women athletes with the most new followers last year, according to a Twitter rep, and fans are clearly aware of her GOAT status: the goat is the most-used emoji in global tweets about Williams in 2022. The personal GOAT hashmoji, by the way, is reserved for truly elite, once-in-a-generation athletes. Along with Biles, other athletes to receive the honor include Tom Brady, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi.

Williams’s first US Open match is scheduled for today at 7 p.m. ET, and she’ll be competing in the doubles competition with her sister Venus Williams beginning on Wednesday. The hashmoji is live now, so tweet away.

Image Source: Twitter