According to many of her colleagues, Williams’ impact and achievements go way beyond just tennis, and Naomi Osaka recently shed light on Williams’ contribution to inspiring a whole generation of tennis players. According to Osaka, Serena Williams is the greatest athlete of all time, across sports. Reacting to Osaka’s comments, Williams confidently expressed pride in her unique achievement.
Williams won the 2017 Australian Open in straight sets while she was nine weeks pregnant with her daughter Olympia at the age of 35. She defeated the likes of Belinda Bencic, Lucie Safarova, Johanna Konta, Barbora Strycova, and her sister Venus Williams, among others, en route to the title.
Williams further reflected on her approach during the tournament and how she won against the odds, relying on her mental strength above all else.
Osaka expressed that while Williams is set to retire after the 2022 US Open, her tennis legacy will continue to live on through women of color in the sport, who have gained inspiration from the American superstar.
At the time of the 2017 Australian Open, very few people were aware of Williams’ pregnancy and it was not public knowledge. Among those who knew were her sister Venus Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian.
Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian reflects on her incredible 2017 Australian Open campaign
Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, shed more light on how Serena Williams managed the demands of pregnancy along with the demands of competing at the highest level of tennis during the 2017 Australian Open. While her doctor advised her to take it easy and was very skeptical about her participation in a Grand Slam tournament while two months pregnant, Williams was confident in her chances.
Her confidence further rubbed off on Ohanian, who felt confident about her chances as well.
During the tournament, Williams was keen not to spend a lot of time on the court in each of her matches for the baby’s sake, which is reflected in her dominance throughout the seven matches.
Serena Williams had a difficult childbirth and faced a life-threatening delivery, but once again stormed back after recovering. She reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals in 2018, the year after Olympia was born.
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