For years, American Grand Slam tennis champion Serena Williams has served ground-breaking comebacks both on and off the tennis court.

Earlier this year, the athlete slammed sexist comments from former tennis professional Raymond Moore and current world number one men's player Novak Djokovic and opened up about how she's learned that unconditional self-love is the most important thing for a woman.

And now the tennis champ has written an inspirational letter for Porter magazine's Incredible Women of 2016 issue, speaking up about her own grievances with sexism in sport, her on-going battle since childhood to fight for her dreams and how all women should encourage each other to 'push for greatness and follow their dreams with steadfast resilience'.

Serena Williams at Wimbledon | ELLE UKpinterest
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Published in the Guardian, the letter is addressed to 'all incredible women who strive for excellence', and reads:

When I was growing up, I had a dream. I'm sure you did, too. My dream wasn't like that of an average kid, my dream was to be the best tennis player in the world. Not the best 'female' tennis player in the world.

Discussing the gender pay gap in sport, Williams writes:

'So when the subject of equal pay comes up, it frustrates me because I know firsthand that I, like you, have done the same work and made the same sacrifices as our male counterparts. I would never want my daughter to be paid less than my son for the same work. Nor would you,' she says.

Serena Williams on the court | ELLE UKpinterest
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Referring to her title as one of the 'world's greatest female athletes', she points out how the same mention of gender is never said of her fellow athletes such as LeBron James, Tiger Woods and Rodger Federer.

We should never let this go unchallenged. We should always be judged by our achievements, not by our gender.

She ends her emotional letter by urging women to 'dream big, and in doing so, we empower the next generation of women to be just as bold in their pursuits'.

Serena Williams – a champion in every sense of the word.

Read the full letter here.

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Katie O'Malley
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.