Serena Williams Retraces ‘Sweet’ Journey of Daughter Olympia Growing Up

Serena Williams became a mother for the first time in 2017 when she gave birth to her daughter, Olympia Ohanian. Recently, over eight years later, the former world No. 1 reflected on Olympia’s journey as she grew up.

Williams met her husband, Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, in a hotel in Rome in 2015 and became engaged there in 2016. The couple welcomed Olympia on Sept. 1, 2017, and got married in New Orleans in November of that same year. In Aug. 2023, they welcomed their second daughter, Adira River Ohanian.

Serena Williams Shares Pictures of Daughter Olympia Growing Up

Recently, Williams shared several pictures on social media featuring herself with Olympia, along with a series of photos showcasing Olympia at different stages of her young life. The former world No. 1 described watching her daughter grow up as “sweet.”

“At first they are sweet, then they get sweeter… Or something like that,” Williams captioned her Instagram post.

 

On the tennis side of things, Williams won a total of 39 Grand Slam titles during her career: 23 in singles, 14 in doubles alongside her sister, Venus Williams, and two in mixed doubles. She was also ranked world No. 1 in both singles and doubles in the WTA rankings, among many other accolades. She retired from professional tennis in 2022, following her appearance at the US Open.

Williams Was Pregnant With Olympia While Winning Her Last Grand Slam Title

Williams won the final Grand Slam of her career at the 2017 Australian Open. After the tournament, she revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair that she had competed while pregnant with her first daughter, Olympia. She discovered her pregnancy while in Melbourne preparing for the tournament, after a friend encouraged her to take a pregnancy test.

“I put it down. An hour and a half later, I went back to the bathroom and I totally forgot about it because it was impossible for me…. So I went back to get dressed and I went back in the bathroom and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that test,’” Williams recalled. “Oh my God, this can’t be–I’ve got to play a tournament. How am I going to play the Australian Open? I had planned on winning Wimbledon this year.”

Seeded second at the 2017 Australian Open, Williams began her campaign by defeating Belinda Bencic with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-3. She then overcame Lucie Safarova with a 6-3, 6-4 score in the first and second rounds, respectively.

In the third round, the former world No. 1 eliminated Nicole Gibbs, winning 6-1, 6-3, and followed that by defeating 16th seed Barbora Strycova 7-5, 6-4 in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, she dominated ninth seed Johanna Konta with a score of 6-2, 6-3 and secured her place in the final by eliminating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni with a score of 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals.

In the championship match, Williams faced her older sister Venus Williams and defeated her 6-4, 6-4 to win the tournament, claiming her seventh Melbourne Major title and her 23rd and final Grand Slam singles title.

This match was the ninth and last meeting between the Williams sisters in a Grand Slam final, and it was the first time they had competed against each other in a Major final since the 2009 Wimbledon Championships.