Caitlin Clark opens up about her short-lived tennis dream and the impact Serena Williams had on it

Long before Caitlin Clark was drawing national attention for her play at the University of Iowa, the WNBA star was an aspiring tennis player, albeit for a brief time.

During an interview with ESPN's Laura Rutledge this week, which came on the heels of Serena Williams praising Clark for how she handled the added attention that came with her jump to the WNBA last year, Clark spoke about how Williams' tennis career inspired her.

As Caitlin Clark revealed, despite looking up to WNBA superstars who came before her, her favorite athlete of all time is Serena Williams.

Given that, when she was growing up, she took tennis lessons in hopes of following in the footsteps of the WTA legend, who is widely considered to be the greatest American tennis player of all time.

During her interview, she explained that although she looks up to Williams, her own dreams of becoming a tennis star were rather short-lived, and ended after she told her tennis instructor that she thought what he was teaching her was too easy:

"I thought [her career] was incredible, but my tennis career was short-lived. I got kicked out of tennis class when I was 10, so that didn't last long. ... But I love Serena Williams.”

Given that, it sounds like fans won't be seeing her join Jimmy Butler as a special guest at the U.S. Open this year.

Caitlin Clark's jersey outsells LeBron James on Fanatics

When the Indiana Pacers hosted the Milwaukee Bucks for Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series over the weekend, the camera panned to Clark, who was seen alongside one of newly-appointed Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White's kids, who was wearing her jersey.

While Clark wasn't playing in Saturday's contest, the moment reflected just how big of a star Caitlin Clark is, and according to Fanatics, it's reflective of just how popular Clark has become.

In an article released by Sports Illustrated on Monday, the outlet revealed that from September to November, Clark's jersey outsold plenty of NBA stars, both past and present.

According to SI, Clark's Indiana Fever jersey outsold current NBA stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum and Victor Wembanyama while also out-selling Hall of Famer Michael Jordan.

The only player whose jersey sales exceeded Clark was none other than Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry.

Clark's jersey also notably outsold other WNBA stars such as A'ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, and fellow second-year standout Angel Reese.

With even more games on national TV this year, once the Indiana Fever's 2025 season tips off, it sounds like Caitlin Clark Mania will pick up right where it left off at the end of last year.