JK Rowling defends Serena Williams in a brilliant response to a body shaming tweet.

July 13, 2015

Image via Twitter (@jkrowling).

She’s just won Wimbledon for the sixth time and currently holds all four major grand slam titles, but it wasn’t Serena Williams‘ talent Twitter was talking about as she held up the trophy.

As has become all too (disappointingly) common with female athletes, the conversation quickly turned from her incredible achievement to her looks. But proving she’s a real life “patronus” (Harry Potter nerds, that one’s for you), JK Rowling was having none of it. (Post continues after gallery.)

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Rowling, who was tweeting regularly during the final, saw a since-deleted tweet from user/troll @diegtristan8: “Ironic then that the main reason for her success is that she is built like a man.”

The Harry Potter creator, who earlier posted a picture of her with Williams saying she was “#TeamSerena today”, was quick to put him back in his place and address his body-shaming comment, carrying out a grand slam of her own.

Image via Twitter.

While it's saddening that talented female sportswomen continue to be reduced to their looks (A Brazilian official made headlines a few weeks ago after claiming that the growing popularity of women's soccer was down to shorter shorts and more makeup), Rowling's response had people cheering.

July 13, 2015

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It's been retweeted nearly 80,000 times and favourited more than 100,000, although Williams has not commented on it - probably too busy celebrating (quite rightly).

JK Rowling is no stranger to Twitter trolls herself, and is known for publicly addressing (and shaming) those with wit and sass when she believes they've crossed the line.

"When my personal line has been crossed... I reserve the right to call out people who swear at me," she tweeted when she was attacked after the Scottish Referendum, saying she had ignored and blocked abuse for weeks before responding.

"It isn't always fun being a famous woman on Twitter and I believe in standing up to bullies," she wrote.

And it's not just online that you can be assured Rowling will have your back.

Evanna Lynch, the actress who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films, revealed that the author saved her from an eating disorder before they'd ever met or she was cast.

The 23 year-old said that she wrote to Rowling when she was 11, asking for help on how to beat anorexia.

"I told her the books gave me hope, particularly Luna Lovegood. I told her how I looked up to her. She wrote back and was like a counsellor," she told The Sun in 2010.

Image via Instagram (@evannlynch)

"She told me anorexia is destructive, not creative, and the brave thing was not to succumb to it."

"I told her I'd love to be in the films and she encouraged that but said I'd need to be well to do so. In the end I think that's why I recovered," she said.

And here was us thinking we couldn't admire JK Rowling even more.

Do you think JK Rowling was right to respond to the Serena Williams tweet?

Rebel WilsonThe actress said on Twitter; "I'm not trying to be hot. I'm just trying to be a good actress and entertain people."

Image via @rebelwilson

Adele"The first thing to do is be happy with yourself and appreciate your body - only then should you try to change things about yourself."

Image via Getty

Lady GagaAfter the media focused on her alleged weight gain in September 2012, Gaga hit back at critics by baring her body in photographs, sharing her struggles with an eating disorder, and inviting her fans to join her in a "body revolution"/ Image via @ladygaga

Ashley JuddAfter the March 2012 frenzy around Judd's "puffy face" the actress fought back in 'The Daily Beast', calling the media out for making women's bodies "a source of speculation, ridicule, and invalidation, as if they belong to others". Image via @ashley_judd

Christina Aguilera"I am always in support of someone who is willing and comfortable in their own skin enough to embrace it," the singer said in a recent interview. Image via @xtina

Lena DunhamAt the 2012 New Yorker Festival, the magazine's TV critic, Emily Nussbaum, asked Lena Dunham, producer, creator and star of the hit HBO show 'Girls' why Dunham is naked in so many scenes.

Dunham responded; "I realised that what was missing in movies for me was the presence of bodies I understood." She said she plans to live until she is 105 and show her thighs every day. Image via @lenadunham

Alexa ChungChung responded to critics who suggested that her slight frame made her a bad role model for young women, saying:

"Just because I exist in this shape doesn't mean that I'm, like, advocating it." Image via Twitter @alexa_chung

Stella BoonshoftThe NYU student started the amazing Body Love Blog, where she posted this picture of herself and wrote an open letter to those who feel entitled to shame others for the size or look of their bodies. Image via http://thebodyloveblog.tumblr.com"> Body Love Blog

Beth DittoThis five-foot-tall, 200-pound singer spoke openly about her weight to 'The Advocate' saying, "I feel sorry ... for people who've had skinny privilege and then have it taken away from them. I have had a lifetime to adjust to seeing how people treat women who aren't their idea of beautiful and therefore aren't their idea of useful, and I had to find ways to become useful to myself." Image via @marybethditto

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