"Trying to get that perfect angle" - Serena Williams jokes about gym selfie struggles to look "snatched"

Serena Williams recently shared some of her tips and tricks for taking the perfect gym selfie, and how she manages to look ‘snatched’ even when she’s working out.

Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and four Olympic gold medals, admitted that she spends half of her time in the gym taking selfies and that she has found the angle that makes her look leaner. She also joked that she is a 'tad thicccker' in person, and asked her fans not to look at her sideways when they see her.

The 42-year-old, who recently welcomed her second child with husband Alexis Ohanian, posted a series of photos on Instagram on Tuesday, December 26, in which she can be seen posing in front of a mirror in an all-black sportswear.

"I spend 50% of my time in the gym taking selfies. Trying to get that perfect angle, that angle that makes me look snatched 😫. Well, I found that angle so don’t look at me sideways when in person I’m a tad thicccker lol 😂," Serena Williams wrote.

Williams, 42, retired from the sport in September 2022 but still seems to be hitting the gym regularly to keep herself in top shape.

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"I was not comfortable with my body, I didn't understand why I had muscles" - Serena Williams on the scrutiny she faced as a teenager

Serena Williams at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships

Despite being hailed as one of the greatest athletes of the 21st century, Serena Williams' journey towards embracing her body wasn't always smooth.

In a 2017 TED Talk conversation with Gayle King, Williams revealed feeling uncomfortable with her physique as a teenager due to the scrutiny faced by many young women in the public eye. This discomfort even led her to give up weightlifting.

"It's interesting because when you're a teenage female growing up in the public eye, it's a lot of scrutiny that you face, and as any female that's a teenager, I definitely was not comfortable with my body, I didn't like it. I didn't understand why I had muscles and I stopped lifting weights, I was like, 'I'm not gonna do this," Serena Williams said.

However, a pivotal moment came with her US Open victory in 1999, which triggered a shift in perspective. Williams began to appreciate her body for its strength and athletic prowess, realizing she wanted to inspire other young girls to find similar positivity within themselves.

"But after I won US Open, I realized that my body helped me reach goals that I wanted to reach. I wanted to be happy with it and I was so appreciative of it, I am always healthy," she added.

"I am really fortunate and super blessed and I felt like, 'Not only am I happy with my body but I want other people and other young girls who experienced what I experienced, to be happy with themselves. So whatever, people say, masculine, whatever, too much, too little, I am okay with it as long as I love myself," she continued.

Catch Serena Williams' comments below (05:52):