 Good evening. Good evening When I first met Serena Williams more than 20 years ago She was a tennis champion of unbelievable Perseverance and power Now at the age of 37. She is still a tennis champion of unbelievable persistence and power But also a wife a mother and a role model for millions of women and men around the world By all measures by all measures This has been the year of Serena What's astonishing is just is not just what Serena has achieved But the grace with which she has achieved it if the part of Wonder Woman had not already been cast I would suggest that Serena take the role She's not a professional actress, but she wouldn't have to be She seems already to come from another better world Channeling her fame into producing social change After experiencing tragedy in her family She spoke eloquently and openly about the horror of gun violence and the terror of practicing in her youth on Courts that were not safe As an ambassador For all states purple purse initiative. She has taken a stand against the menace of domestic violence as well. I Have met enough tennis champions over the years to know what lonely work it can be especially when you are young They are alone under pressure on the court Spending more than 20 years at the top is almost unheard of in tennis or indeed in any other sport Serena seemed to those of us who have been lucky to see her play lucky enough to see her play during this time almost inhuman in her achievement But what we have got to see over the past few years is the process of her becoming human and Growing even more remarkable because of it Serena has opened up to the world. She's fallen in love with Lexis her extraordinary husband And she has begun to raise her daughter the beautiful and aptly named Olympia She has been open about her physical struggles around childbirth and about her insecurity about her newest challenge motherhood After many years of being unafraid in tennis She is unafraid to be authentic to wear her heart on her sleeve For years Serena has helped to drive a huge fan base to tennis She has been one of the sports greatest ambassadors That public role has a cost Because she's always out in front She's often the first person to be jumped on in moments of tension as we saw during the US Open final But what made me the most proud in that moment was the way Serena Celebrated the victory of Naomi Osaka a young player who'd grown up in awe of Serena She was able to see in that moment something I'm not sure she would have seen when I met her all those years ago that there was a win Larger than the match win to do with the hearts and the hopes of the people who looked up to her It helps to explain I think why she's now a figure so much larger than the game that she has mastered an Icon valued for her honesty a leader like Oprah who bestows confidence and light on everything she touches a Real-life Wonder Woman who can dance better than Beyonce She has always been our number one tennis player But in the year of Serena and with this award tonight, we celebrate an even more impressive feat Becoming a woman far greater than her multitude of victories