Serena Williams signals banter with Simone Biles will continue amid gymnast’s vacation with husband Jonathan Owens

Serena Williams reacted after Simone Biles playfully teased her with glimpses of her beach vacation. The American gymnast is currently enjoying a tropical getaway in San Pedro, Belize, with her husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens.

Williams and Biles share a close bond and are known for their subtle, humorous exchanges on social media. Both are dominant forces in their respective sports: Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion, and Biles, who continues to shine in gymnastics, most recently leading Team USA to its fourth Olympic gold at the Paris Games.

On June 2, Biles and Williams had a fun, friendly flex. A day ago, Biles teased the tennis legend with her vacation pictures from the beach. She captioned it:

“@serenawilliams putting my phone on DND again! are you jealousss?”

The tennis legend played along with the gymnast and reshared the story with a note that read:

“@simonebiles Oh, I see it’s about to be on right now…”

Screenshot of story (IG/@serenawilliams)

A few days back, Serena Williams had also shared a similar kind of exchange from her holiday pictures in Corsica. Biles was last seen in action at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she added four medals to her career total, bringing it to 11 Olympic medals.

Simone Biles is now having a relaxed time with Owens. She was recently caught up in a controversy with swimmer turned social activist Riley Gaines over the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports. She came under fire from netizens to the extent that the gymnast briefly deactivated her Twitter account. However, her account has since returned on X.

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Simone Biles issued an apology to Riley Gaines.

Following tweets directed at Riley Gaines, who made mocking remarks about the inclusion of a transgender girl on Champlin Park High School’s girls’ softball team, Simone Biles issued an apology on X. She clarified that she was not advocating for compromising fairness in sports but rather about publicly singling out children.

“I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports. My objection is to singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful. Individual athletes, especially kids should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over.”

“I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful.”

Recently, the gymnast also received another major honour; she won the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Favourite Female Sports Star Award. Simone Biles has not yet confirmed her participation in the upcoming LA Games.