Aunt Venus gets set for Serena’s baby, US Open
Wimbledon and Australian Open runner-up Venus Williams is preparing this week for the US Open and to become a new aunt with sister Serena giving birth to a baby soon. Ninthranked Venus advanced Tuesday to the second round at the WTA Cincinnati Open by eliminating US compatriot Alison Riske 6-2, 6-0 in 66 minutes.
But off the court, she’s doing some online shopping for Serena’s baby, and getting some valuable advice from her mother, Oracene Price, who has raised five daughters.
“I have a lot of things in my cart that I’m about to order,” Venus Williams said. “I talked to my mom yesterday. I’m like, ‘Mom, what do you really, really need?’ So she really gave me the low-down.
“So I’m going to get this stuff and as things progress I’ll see what I need after.”
Serena and her fiancee, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have said they plan to keep the sex of the baby a surprise until birth.
Serena, 35, was pregnant when she beat Venus, 37, in an Australian Open final that was more all-Williams than either knew, winning a 23rd career Grand Slam singles crown, one shy of Margaret Court’s all-time record.
Venus, who won five Wimbledon and two US Open titles, has been an aunt before, but not when she was old enough to do some serious spoiling and spending on the new arrival.
“This is the first time I’ve been an aunt as an adult,” she said. “So it’s a completely different experience than before when I was a child.”
After a third-round exit in Toronto last week, Williams hopes to put the final fine tuning on her game this week ahead of the US Open.