Serena Williams with daughter Adira (left inset, Source: Instagram/serenawilliams), Serena Williams at the 2022 US Open (right, Source: Getty)

Serena Williams’ stellar tennis career came to a tearful end at the 2022 US Open. At the time, the former No. 1 was already a mother, having given birth to daughter Olympia back in 2017. In 2023, she became a mother once again as her second child with husband Alexis Ohanian, daughter Adira, was born. Recently, the 23-time Major champion reflected on transitioning from being a professional tennis player to a loving and devoted mother.

Speaking to Time in a recently-published interview, Williams confessed to missing tennis. According to the 43-year-old, she wouldn’t be missing the sport if she weren’t healthy.

“I miss it a lot, with all my heart. I miss it because I’m healthy. If I couldn’t walk, or if I was so out of it, I wouldn’t miss it as much,” Williams said.

However, Serena Williams suggested that she is healthy nowadays because she didn’t extend her career beyond her 2022 US Open campaign.

“I think I’m healthy because I didn’t overplay,” she added.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist went on to talk about her feelings for her children with husband Alexis Ohanian, one of the co-founders of Reddit. She dismissed the possibility of a return to tennis, citing her desire to have more children as the reason for retiring from the sport in the first place.

“I just can’t peel myself away from these children. Another reason I had to transition was because I wanted to have more kids. And I look at Adira and I’m like, ‘Was it worth it?’ I literally thought about it the other day. I was like, ‘Yeah, it was definitely worth it.’,” Williams concluded.

The tennis legend disclosed her first pregnancy, with daughter Olympia, in April 2017. The revelation led to a staggering realization in the tennis fraternity and beyond- that a 35-year-old Serena Williams clinched the 2017 Australian Open title while pregnant.

“I ended up being nine weeks pregnant when I finished” – Serena Williams’ candid recollection of Australian Open 2017 title triumph

In Picture: Serena Williams celebrates her 2017 Australian Open success (Source: Getty)

On the back of receiving Glamour Magazine‘s ‘Woman of the Year 2024’ honor, Serena Williams revisited her title triumph at the 2017 Australian Open in an interview series shared via TikTok. One of the questions, fielded to her more like an opinion, suggested that tennis can’t be played during pregnancy.

Williams refuted this suggestion with a hint of caution, as she issued the following response:

“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. If that’s your normal, if you played tennis before, then you can continue to do it while you’re pregnant.”

In the final of the 2017 Australian Open, Serena Williams defeated elder sister Venus in straight sets to win her 23rd and final Grand Slam title.