Serena Williams opened up about choosing motherhood over her tennis career. The American claimed that at some point an athlete has to choose between family and the sport and Williams chose her daughters Olympia and Adira.
Serena Williams welcomed her first daughter, Olympia, in September 2017 with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, whom she married shortly afterward. She continued her tennis career for several years after becoming a mother before officially retiring in 2022.
In 2023, Williams gave birth to her second daughter, Adira. Since retiring, the 43-year-old has focused on business ventures, including partnerships, investments, and launching her makeup line, all while fully embracing motherhood.
Recently, Williams was honored with the title of "Woman of the Year" by Glamour Magazine. As part of the campaign, Williams sat down with Glamour for a YouTube video where she debunked "tennis myths". One of those myths was:
"You have to choose between sports and family."
Williams responded by saying that, at one point, the choice needed to be made and she chose her daughters.
"That's a good one. I think at some point you do have to choose if you want to have kids, but for me, I decided to choose being a mom," Serena Williams said (at 00:30)
"I never thought I would say that. But just hanging out with my girls and spending time with them and just showing up every day is an achievement, and it's not easy. I can't think of anything else that I achieved that's better or greater than that," she added.
Interestingly, Williams was pregnant with Olympia when she played tennis at the highest level and won a Grand Slam title.
Serena Williams was nine-weeks pregnant with daughter Olympia when she won the Australian Open 2017
During the same campaign with Glamour Magazine, Serena Williams recalled her extraordinary 2017 Australian Open title. The American won the Melbourne Slam nine weeks pregnant with daughter Olympia.
One of the myths in the video read:
“You can’t play tennis while pregnant.”
Williams laughed upon reading this and recalled the time when she had not only played but won the title while pregnant.
"Well, I kind of did. I was, oh my gosh, I ended up being like nine weeks pregnant when I finished. But, yeah, you can definitely play tennis while being pregnant," Williams said (at 03:50).
"If that's your normal, if you played tennis before, then you can continue to do it while you're pregnant," she added.
The American did not drop a set on her way to the title in Australia in 2017 and defeated her sister Venus Williams in the final to clinch her record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title.
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