Her her hair was worn up with curly tendrils falling down around her face, and her makeup was light with pale pink lipstick.

‘Loving yourself is essential,’ began her caption as she was candid about her feelings concerning her body.

Serena Williams took to Instagram on Monday to share a flattering bikini photo. The 42-year-old tennis star looked incredibly toned and slender in a little white two -piece swimsuit that consisted of a low-cut top and small briefs with straps over the hips

‘I find that I have to remind myself of that self-love through all different stages in my life,’ added the tennis great.

She then talked her figure, which looked in great shape.

‘Right now I love that my body is not picture perfect,’ she said. ‘I love that I smell like milk – that milk sustains @adiraohanian I love getting to know a new version of my body.

‘It is a change, but it’s a change that has been well worth it. So start this week, knowing that you are loved, and that starts with you.

‘Ok, now I’m about to go to the gym. Serena.’

This comes after the athlete welcomed her second daughter with husband Alexis Ohanian in August.

She shared a sweet clip of herself, husband and daughter Olympia, five, with the newborn baby named Adira River Ohanian.

The caption read: ‘Welcome my beautiful angel.’

The tennis diva had black sunglasses on as she posed on a yacht as she held her second daughter Adira who was born six months ago

In the video Serena is seen looking pretty in a pink dress in honor of her new daughter as she walks over to Alexis and kisses him.

Olympia, also in pink, walks over to join her parents, who kiss her, before Serena indicates she has forgotten something.

The star then walks back into frame cradling the couple’s newborn daughter as the family celebrate their second child.

Revealing the baby’s adorable name on Instagram, Alexis wrote: ‘Welcome, Adira River Ohanian.

‘I’m grateful to report our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama.

In October she shared a 𝑠e𝑥y flashback photo in a swimsuit.

‘Share a pic from a VERRYYY different time in your life,’ it was written over the snapshot.

The cover girl appeared to be in her 20s at the time that the photo was taken. She flashed a wide smile that made it seem as if she had not a worry in the world.

Last year she took to Instagram to share a flattering flashback photo

Williams welcomed her second daughter with husband Alexis Ohanian in August

‘Feeling grateful. @serenawilliams you’ve now given me another incomparable gift — you’re the GMOAT. Thanks to all the amazing medical staff who took care of my wife & our daughter. I’ll never forget the moment I introduced @olympiaohanian to her baby sister.

‘Your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.’

In early August  Serena revealed the gender of her daughter alongside her husband at a party.

The tennis player and her spouse first met when they ran into each other at a hotel in Rome in May of 2015, and they began dating not long afterward.

The pair went on to become engaged in December of 2016, and they welcomed daughter Olympia the following September.

Seen last month with the caption, ‘Them: Don’t start jumping to conclusions. Me:#vacation #beachlife #momlife’

She looked fabulous in the low cut black suit on the beach

The two subsequently tied the knot during a star-studded wedding ceremony that took place in New Orleans that November.

Williams announced that she had become pregnant for the second time just before the Met Gala this past May.

The former athlete spoke about motherhood during an interview with Vogue, where she expressed that she did not see herself as a parent during her younger years.

‘Earlier in my career, I never thought about having kids. There were times when I’ve wondered if I should ever bring kids into this world, with all its problems. I was never that confident or comfortable around babies or children,’ she said.

Williams then expressed that she had since learned to embrace parenthood and remarked that she had become particularly attached to her daughter.

‘The fact is that nothing is a sacrifice for me when it comes to Olympia. It all just makes sense,’ she said.

Williams at the Clive Davis Pre-GRAMMY Gala held at The Beverly Hilton on February 3 in Los Angeles