Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Serena accepts that her body is a weapon
Tennis ace on motherhood, being in ‘beautiful’ Venus’s shadow
WE’VE already seen her on a tennis court in a striking black catsuit. Pictured running in another skin-tight all-in-one – this time in a rainbow of colours – Serena Williams clearly isn’t shy of outfits that scream “look at me”.
But the 23-time grand slam champion hasn’t always been a picture of confidence. She has revealed how she struggled growing up alongside her “thin, tall and beautiful” sister, Venus.
It has taken Serena, 36, time to accept her body, but she now sees it as her “weapon”. She told Harper’s Bazaar magazine: “It was hard for me... I was different to Venus: she was thin and tall and beautiful, and I am strong and muscular – and beautiful, but, you know, it was just totally different.”
In 2004, Serena said she wanted to lose weight. But she told the magazine: “Oh God, I’ll never be a size 4! Why would I want to do that, and be that? This is me, and this is my weapon and machine.”
Serena, who gave birth last year to her first child, Alexis Olympia, added: “But I love that I said that, because I can understand. I can show Olympia that I struggled, but now I’m happy with who I am and what I am and what I look like.
“Olympia was born and she had my arms, and instead of being sad and fearful about what people would say about her, I was just so happy.”
Serena has faced Venus, 37, several times in competition and just two months ago, she was knocked out of the Indian Wells Masters by her sister.
She said: “I want (Venus) to win every time she’s playing, except when she’s playing me. And when she’s playing me, I want her to win, but I want to win – and I feel awful if I win.
“I always tell myself: in 10 years, none of this is going to matter, we’ll still be sisters and she’s not going to be upset with me for beating her in this particular tournament.”
Serena wore a black catsuit at the French Open on Monday for her first match since giving birth in September.
The new mother said that unlike most mums, she loved being pregnant.
She said: “If I wasn’t playing tennis, I’d be pregnant right now – sorry, I’m one of those women. I’ve been injured so many times, my body is used to adjusting.”
But it was not plain sailing for Serena, as she struggled with post- natal depression. She added: “It’s almost like the fourth trimester, it’s part of the pregnancy. I remember one day I couldn’t find Olympia’s bottle and I got so upset I started crying because I wanted to be perfect for her.”
Of future family plans, she said: “Olympia needs a little sister, and then we can have a boy. I’ve only been around girls my whole life.” – Daily Mail