Serena Williams may have fallen short of achieving her calendar year grand slam goal at the U.S. Open, but no one should be under the impression that she's lost a step -- especially would-be criminals.
The 34-year-old tennis star foiled an attempt to steal her cellphone by someone suspicious at what she later described as a "cozy restaurant" on Tuesday.
According to a Facebook post by Williams: "He began to run but I was too fast. (Those sprints came in handy) I was upon him in a flash! In the most menacing yet calm no nonsense voice I could muster I kindly asked him if he "accidentally" took the wrong phone. He stumbled on his words probably not expecting this to happen. While he was thinking of the right thing to say and eventually he said 'Gosh you know what I did! It was so confusing in there. I must have grabbed the wrong phone.'"
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Although Williams did not disclose the location where the incident took place, ABC's "Good Morning America" did obtain security footage from a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco, which shows an unidentified man appearing to snatch her phone from a seat next to her. Williams can be seen pursuing the man onto the sidewalk outside the restaurant, exchanging words with him and then returning with her phone. "She said she thought that was the best approach so she could avoid any conflict with him," waitress Anastasia Villanueva told GMA. "And I just said, 'good job.'"
Williams, who posted the story along with an image of herself in a superhero costume, branded the incident a "win for the ladies."
"Always listen to your superhero inner voice. Always keep your things close! Fight for what's right. Stand for what you believe in! Be a superhero!" Williams wrote to her followers. "When I got back into the restaurant I received a standing ovation. I was proud. I just showed every man in there I can stand up to bully's [sic] and other men."
She added: “Just because you are a lady don’t be afraid to step up to any challenge and not be a victim but a hero!”