Serena Williams has criticised a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, alleging that she was not allowed to enter with her children. The Olympian said she and her family were not permitted to enter The Peninsula’s rooftop restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, in a post published on X (formerly Twitter). Ms Williams wrote in the post that she had never been refused entry while her family was there.

“Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to the rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids. Always a first. #Olympic2024,” she said on the microblogging website.

Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids. Always a first. #Olympic2024pic.twitter.com/lEGJR5WoEn

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) August 5, 2024

Maxime Mannevy, a staff member at the Peninsula’s rooftop restaurant, told Variety that Ms Williams appeared “unrecognizable” when she arrived pushing a stroller alongside another lady. “When she came there were only two tables available and they had been reserved by clients of the hotel,” she said, adding that she was not working when Ms Williams visited the restaurant.

“My colleague didn’t recognize her and feels terrible, but he told her what he would have told any other client, which is to wait downstairs in the bar for a table to become available. That was absolutely nothing personal.”

The restaurant reacted to the Grand Slam champion’s claim, with employees reiterating their reasons for turning away Ms Williams and her children from a table. “In response to Ms Williams’ tweet, for whom we have the utmost admiration and respect, as we do for all our esteemed guests, we reiterate our deepest apologies that we were not able to offer her a table at our rooftop bar when she arrived with her family and without a reservation,” the hotel said in a statement to the New York Post.

They said, “We do always try to make space for walk-in guests but sometimes this is not possible.”

“On August 5th, our rooftop bar was indeed fully booked, and the only unoccupied tables at that time belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was also fully reserved. As an alternative, Ms Williams was offered an outside table downstairs at the hotel’s La Terrasse Kléber. We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again,” the statement added.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion initially came to Paris in late July, just in time for the “unforgettable” Olympic opening ceremony, which she attended as a torch bearer. Along with fellow tennis champion Rafael Nadal, nine-time medallist Carl Lewis, French greats Zinedine Zidane, Teddy Riner, Marie-Jose Perec, and Tony Parker, Ms Williams joined a long tradition of athletes carrying the torch. She has also won four Olympic gold medals over the course of her career.

Tennis at the Summer Olympics is always one of the most anticipated events, but Paris 2024 might just take the cake. Numerous storylines from the world of tennis are in play, as the iconic Roland Garros welcomes the Olympics. The king of Roland Garros – Rafael Nadal – may be playing competitive tennis for the final time. He will be going for a third individual gold. His age-old rival Novak Djokovic is aiming for the one gold missing from his illustrious cabinet. Olympics 2024 is also certainly Andy Murray’s swansong. And between all this, a new demon has taken the world of tennis by storm.

Carlos Alcaraz heads into Paris 2024 having conquered the two most revered courts on earth in succession, winning the French Open and Wimbledon this year. However, perhaps more than the individual clash of titans, fans are also eagerly looking forward to Alcaraz and Nadal playing the men’s doubles together, representing Spain. A poetic pass of the baton from Nadal to Alcaraz sets up an almost Shakespearean storyline.

For India, Rohan Bopanna will pair up with N Sriram Balaji for the men’s doubles category, whilst Sumit Nagal will play the men’s singles.

Format

In Paris 2024, much like every other edition, tennis will have five separate categories: women’s singles, men’s singles, women’s doubles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Apart from five editions, the bronze medal has been won by the winner of the match between the two losing semi-finalists. It remains the same in Paris.

Since 2021,  the deciding set (third) has a 7-point tiebreaker game to decide the match at 6-all. Should the tiebreaker game be tied at 6-all, whoever scores two straight points wins it.

History

The United States hold the most Olympic golds in the Open era, as well as all-time. Great Britain were the country to beat in the Amateur Era, but the United States have dominated in the Open Era.

The Williams sisters hold the most individual medals in Olympics history, but it is Venus who has one more than Serena. Both boast three golds in women’s doubles and a women’s singles gold, but Venus also won a silver in the Rio 2016 mixed doubles.

Among active male players, Andy Murray has three medals, two of them men’s singles gold (2012, 2016). Rafael Nadal has a singles gold (2008) and a doubles gold (2016). Alexander Zverev is the reigning men’s singles champion.

Leander Paes won India’s only Olympic tennis medal in Atlanta 1996, with a men’s singles bronze. Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi narrowly missed out on a doubles medal in Athens 2004, finishing fourth.