American tennis legend Serena Williams recently played her last professional tennis match. It is hard to imagine a tennis world without Serena Williams in it. However, the 40-year-old believes that it was time and she had to stop. Recently, Serena, along with her sister Venus Williams, appeared in an interview hosted by Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper.
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Discussing various aspects of her career and retirement, she also spoke about the challenges of being a mother and an athlete at the same time.
Serena Williams speaks about the challenges of playing tennis after embracing motherhood
Serena Williams had a difficult childbirth, and it definitely took a toll on her body. Even after recovering, she had to manage her work with the duties of a mother. However, the fighter that we know Serena Williams is, she pulled it off. The 40-year-old recently reflected on the phase where her motherhood started impacting her performance on the court.
“As a super hands-on mom, I can’t tell you how hard it was. I lost so many matches after I had Olympia” — in 2017 — “because it was so hard to be on the court,” she said.
Further, Serena spoke about the reason she decided to quit tennis. “I feel like I’ve given so much of my life to tennis, my entire life, that it’s time to do something different for me and also work on other things,” Williams added.
Alexis Ohanian reveals Serena’s prime focus after retirement
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Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian recently appeared on SportsCenter. The Reddit co-founder answered questions about the plans Serena has after her retirement from professional tennis. Ohanian said that Williams has already sacrificed a lot to bring Olympia into the world. Further, she is looking forward to dedicating more time to her now five-year-old daughter.
Notably, she last won a Grand Slam title back in 2017. She defeated her sister Venus Williams to clinch the Australian Open title. What’s more special is the fact that she achieved the feat while she was pregnant with Olympia at the time.
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The impact of childbirth perhaps had an effect on her game, as the legend didn’t win any major titles after that. She bowed out from tennis after a third-round loss in the US Open. However, she came close on several occasions. Now that she is retired, all her time is likely to be spent with Olympia.