Serena Williams’ new ad gives working moms the nuanced representation they deserve

In the scene, Serena Williams cuddles with her baby daughter, then lays her down in a crib. As another woman, presumably a nanny, tucks the baby in, Williams walks out of the house and onto a tennis court, pulling her hair up and shedding her sweater. “Don’t call it a comeback,” she says in a voiceover. “I’ve been here for years, rocking my peers, putting suckers in fear … Don’t ever compare me to the rest.” Tender images of Williams and her child are intercut with shots of a gathering storm and her tennis racket. Finally, she serves so hard it sounds like an explosion. Looking straight into the camera, she declares: “Mama said, knock you out.”