WATCH: Serena Williams throwing shade at then World No. 1 Dinara Safina after Wimbledon 2009 win resurfaces in light of Carlos Alcaraz triumph

A video of Serena Williams throwing shade at Dinara Safina after her 2009 Wimbledon triumph resurfaced after Carlos Alcaraz won the men's singles title yesterday. The then-World No. 2 Williams had won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while the World No. 1 Safina was runners-up at the Australian Open and French Open and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon.

After winning Wimbledon 2009 by defeating Venus Williams in the final, Serena Williams took questions from the press. One of the reporters asked her if she was motivated to regain the World No. 1 spot. In response, the American downplayed the WTA ranking system, emphasizing that her true motivation was to win another Grand Slam rather than reclaiming the No. 1 spot.

"You know, I'm not super motivated. I think if you hold three Grand Slam titles maybe you should be No. 1, but not on the WTA Tour obviously, so...You know, my motivation is maybe just to win another Grand Slam and stay No. 2, I guess (laughter)," Serena Williams said.

In a follow-up question, she was asked if she was disappointed by being World No. 2 even after winning two Major titles. The 23-time Grand Slam champion joked that she would rather have three Grand Slams than be at the top of the ranking without any Major titles. For the unversed, Safina did not win a singles Grand Slam throughout her career.

"No. If it did, I would go crazy just thinking about it. I think anyone really could. That's just shocking. But whatever. It is what it is. I'd rather definitely be No. 2 and hold three Grand Slams in the past year than be No. 1 and not have any," Williams said.

The reporters also asked her if she saw herself as the World No. 1, to which she replied:

"I see myself as No. 2. That's where I am. I think Dinara did a great job to get to No. 1. She won Rome and Madrid (laughter)."

To her credit, Willimas did regain the World No. 1 spot a couple of months later, after this interaction in October.

Watch the video below:

The above video resurfaced due to parallels with Carlos Alcaraz. He won the 2024 French Open and Wimbledon but is still No. 3, behind Jannik Sinner (winner of 2024 Australian Open) and Novak Djokovic (no titles in 2024).

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Serena Williams' 2009 season

Serena Willimas at Wimbledon 2009 (Source: GETTY)

With victories over Dinara Safina in the Australian Open final and her sister Venus Williams in the Wimbledon final, Serena Williams had a successful 2009 campaign. The American also reached the quarterfinal at the French Open and the semifinals at the US Open.

Williams also reached the finals at the Miami Open and the semifinals at the Canadian Open. She suffered a first-round exit at the Madrid Open and a second-round exit at the Italian Open.

Williams then lost in the third round of both the China Open and the Cincinnati Open. She did, however, cap off the year well by triumphing over Venus Willimas in the WTA Finals.