Serena Williams has been cleared to exercise following the birth of her second baby — but it’s a “super weird,” experience, she said in a post on X on Friday.
“I’m not used to working out with no goal or to be honest — no championship in my mind,” Williams, 41, wrote on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “This is super weird.”
The 23-time Grand Slam champion’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, returned a response in the comments.
“So….. you wanna go back on tour?,” the tech entrepreneur, 40, wrote, alongside a gif of Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber with the words, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”
I’m not used to working out with no goal or to be honest – no championship in my mind. This is super weird.
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) September 15, 2023
Williams’ feelings towards retirement have not been clear-cut.
Despite saying she was “evolving away” from the sport following her appearance at the US Open in September 2022, the athlete hedged a month later at a tech conference.”The chances of me returning are very high,” Williams said last October. “You can come to my house and [see], I have a court.”
Over the past year, following an emotional send-off after losing to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the New York City tournament, the tennis icon has been following through on another goal — to expand her family with Ohanian.
Late last month, the couple welcomed their second baby girl, they shared on Instagram.”Welcome, Adira River Ohanian,” the new dad of two captioned a family photo.
“I’m grateful to report our house is teaming [sic] with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama. Feeling grateful. @serenawilliams, you’ve now given me another incomparable gift — you’re the GMOAT,” he wrote, alongside photos of their daughter Olympia, now 6, holding her new sister.
Serena Williams Clarifies ‘I Am Not Retired’ and Says Chances of Her Return are ‘Very High’
Also known as the G.O.A.T., Williams would have legions of fans welcoming her back to the court — including this year’s US Open women’s champion, Coco Gauff.
Shortly after she advanced to the tournament’s final, Gauff was asked about “taking the torch” from Williams and the symmetry between their tennis careers. Williams won her first Grand Slam at the US Open in 1999, at age 17 — 24 years before Gauff would do the same at age 19.
“I’m grateful to report our house is teaming [sic] with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama. Feeling grateful. @serenawilliams, you’ve now given me another incomparable gift — you’re the GMOAT,” he wrote, alongside photos of their daughter Olympia, now 6, holding her new sister.
Also known as the G.O.A.T., Williams would have legions of fans welcoming her back to the court — including this year’s US Open women’s champion, Coco Gauff.
Shortly after she advanced to the tournament’s final, Gauff was asked about “taking the torch” from Williams and the symmetry between their tennis careers. Williams won her first Grand Slam at the US Open in 1999, at age 17 — 24 years before Gauff would do the same at age 19.
“Serena is Serena,” Gauff said. “She’s the GOAT. I’d hope to do half of what she did. But I’m not gonna compare myself to her.”She added, “She’s my idol. The only regret I’ll have for the rest of my life is not being able to play her. There were so many tournaments where if we won an extra round and didn’t lose, I would’ve played her. But I’m still happy to just be a product of her legacy and be out here for American tennis.”
