Serena Williams gave an interview to Elle magazine where she talked both about her personal life, with the birth of her daughter Olympia, and about her life at her professional level. Before becoming a mother, the 23-time slam winner, she saw tennis in a very different way from how she sees it now:
“I appreciated the positive attention from the press, as I was used to a completely different kind of attention. I have a beautiful daughter at home, but I still want titles, success and esteem, but that’s not my reason for waking up in the morning. I learned to recover after the defeat, to defend what matters at all costs and to defend what is right. As it turned out, giving birth to my baby was a test of how loud and how often I should have screamed before they heard me. “
Williams has long been close to the 24 slam milestone which would allow her to reach Margaret Court which is currently the most successful Major title winner in the history of the sport.
It was precisely in the vicinity of a Slam, more precisely the Australian Open 2017, that she discovered she was pregnant. “When I discovered I was pregnant two days before the Australian Open 2017, my body had already changed. Of course, being pregnant didn’t mean I couldn’t play tennis. I was planning to compete for eight weeks. I wasn’t sure how the tournament was going to go; during training, I was getting more and more tired between points. I was determined to play fast and hard before the Melbourne heat hit me. I won seven games, all in direct sets.”
Serena Williams has had several postpartum problems
American champion, who gave birth to Olympia by caesarean section, had postpartum problems: “I thought: ‘I’ve had so many operations, what does another matter? Being an athlete often means controlling your body, exercising her power, but also knowing when to give up.”
The recovery process has been tough for Serena Williams. In 2010 she had suffered from blood clots in her lungs and had reviewed the ghosts of the past. However, thanks to the help of doctors, the 39-year-old American avoided further damage:
“When I got home for the first time, I couldn’t walk. When I finally got to a tree in the middle of the driveway, everyone in my family would cheer me on and say: You’re doing great! They carried the pain inside, but still everyone was acting like nothing had happened. My father was very encouraging and said, ‘Look, you did it! I’m glad they didn’t show me the evil of reality.”