“Og IT Girl”- Serena Williams’ iconic faux-leather boots look leaves Taylor Townsend impressed

Serena Williams received praise from Taylor Townsend as her iconic fashion moment, featuring faux-leather boots at the 2004 US Open, made rounds on the internet. Townsend reached the Round of 32 of the Citi Open, slated to compete against Tatjana Maria on July 22, 2025.

Serena Williams, the only player to achieve a career Golden Slam in singles and doubles, boasts 23 Grand Slam titles and one of the most decorated resumes in tennis history. The highest-earning woman athlete of all time, Williams, began dominating the major courts in 1999 when she claimed the French Open and US Open titles.

The 43-year-old was not only turning heads with her tennis flair but also with her outfits, which often had a personal touch and significance. At the 2004 US Open, she graced the hard court in faux-leather boots for the warmup, pairing them with a black studded jacket, denim shirt, and others.

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Recently, the 23-time Grand Slam titlist's iconic appearance from 21 years ago has been making the rounds on the internet. Taylor Townsend, Serena Williams' good friend and the 2025 Australian Open doubles champion, sent her love to the legend, sharing the video montage in her Instagram story and captioning:

"Og IT Girl"

Williams was presented the 2023 CFDA fashion icon award for her pathbreaking strides in sport. She addressed the crowd on the award night, expressing how the court has always been a runway for her.

"I explored fashion and style as a way to distinguish myself. In many ways for me, the tennis courts became my runway."

Williams capped her sporting career in 2022 and shifted her attention to business, mainly investing.

Taylor Townsend once shared that Serena Williams' legendary catsuit inspired her to sport the look as well

Townsend, who peaked at No. 2 in the doubles ranking, has always been vocal about her admiration and love for Serena Williams. In a 2024 interview with ESPN, the 29-year-old talked about the latter's 'iconic' catsuit from 2002 that inspired her to bring it to the tour in 2022 and 2023.

Sharing the anecdote of her conversation with Williams when she felt terrified to sport it in public, she said:

"I actually wore catsuits in all of 2022 and parts of 2023 because of Serena, because of this look (2002 US Open look). I texted her and I said I am terrified to wear this but I am gonna do it and I wore it. The US Open was the first time I wore them. And she was like, ‘Girl, I am terrified every time I go out and I am about to wear something, just do it, just put it on.’ I said ‘I am doing it because of you.'" (0:16 onwards)

Williams made it to the Forbes list of the 100 highest-paid athletes as the only woman. She also added four Laureus World honors to her repertoire.

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About the author

Agnijeeta Majumder

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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