"I don't want her to take on my fears" - Serena Williams on her daughter Olympia being fearless

Serena Williams recently spoke about how her daughter Olympia is fearless, a state she doesn't want to upend just yet, leading the 23-time Grand Slam champion to do everything in her power to prevent the five-year-old from taking on her own fears.

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion expanded on the topic to Meghan Markle on the latter's podcast 'Archetypes,' where she touched on the idea of fearlessness and how fear could go on a variety of levels.

"That is absolutely true. You’re fearless, like, even, you know, this is so silly because, you know, I’m a little silly, but… Like swimming, I won’t swim in the ocean, hahaha. You can't get me in the ocean now. I'm so afraid of open water like it's a joke. But, yeah, fearless, fear can go on so many different levels. When you're younger, it's like you don't think about it," Serena said.

From that tangent, Serena Williams went on to talk about her daughter Olympia's fearless nature, adding that it was an important part of parenthood, not allowing one's child to take on the parent's fears.

"Everything is such, such an amazing experience. And I see it in Olympia. I see, like, how fearless she is. And I encourage her because I'm afraid of heights. And I just be like, 'Oh, this is great'. And she, like, embraces it because I don't want her to take on my fears. And I think that's important that when you're raising a child you don't let them take on your fears," the 41-year-old.

I don't know if Olympia really even knows who I am: Serena Williams

Serena Williams after her final match at the US Open

Serena Williams also said that she thinks her daughter doesn't really know who she is or what she does, and that she hasn't yet explained to the child wexactly whyshe is as popular as she is around the globe.

"She's still young and I don't even know if she knows what I do/did/currently do, I guess. I don't know. I don’t know, I don’t know if she really even knows who I am, She’ll be like, 'Why does that person know your name?' And I’m like, 'Uh, I don’t know, what do I say to that?' But yeah, I think fearlessness is super important. I think as you grow with the experience that you get, you think of it as a wound - if you burn yourself, obviously you don't touch the fire again," Serena said.

"So you're learning behaviors that make you stop and that gives you this healthy fear – because there is a healthy fear and, you know, kind of like a godly fear as well. And it's not a bad thing. It's just a precaution that we need," she added.