Behind the Gates With Serena

An interview with coach Jesse Levine about his work on court this year with a club member named Serena Williams.

After winning her second consecutive Miami Open title, WTA No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka began her training for clay season at Shell Bay Club, an exclusive, invitation-only private club in Hallandale Beach, just north of Miami in Broward County, Florida (about 10 miles ENE of the Miami Open).

The high-end club, which offers hard courts, grass, and both American-style green clay courts and European-style red clay, first opened in late 2023. It’s quickly become a popular spot for the sport’s biggest stars when in Florida; Novak Djokovic prepared there with his then-coach Andy Murray before his run to the final of last year’s Miami Open.

Bounces readers of the last five months—or anyone who’s read the headline of this article—probably know where this is going.

Shell Bay Club—and its director of racquet sports, Jesse Levine—became a particular interest of mine in recent months because of another tennis superstar who has taken up membership and frequent residence there, regularly hitting with Levine at the club as her daughters get lessons on nearby courts.

Serena Williams has been making these trips to Shell Bay Club to hit with Levine—a former favorite practice partner of Roger Federer’s—despite living more than 70 miles north of the club.

“Some are just really fun hits, and she is very talkative on the changeovers and super cool, having just light conversation. And then there’s times, once baseline games get into play, where you see the switch kind of turn.” —Jesse Levine on hitting with Serena Williams.

As questions linger about what Serena is (or isn’t) planning now that she’s an officially reinstated professional tennis player, I wanted to get answers about what she’s up to, and so I talked directly to the coach who has seen a whole lot of her tennis lately in an interview I’m delighted to bring to Bounces today.

To read the full interview with Levine about Serena, and learn all the latest on the state of Serena Williams’ practice habits and outlook, please become a paid subscriber to Bounces! -Ben