“Now it’s about finding balance and doing other things I’ve always loved,” Serena Williams said earlier this year while reflecting on the missed opportunities in life due to a prolonged tennis career.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner and former world no.1 hanged up the racket in 2022. Since then, she has time and again expressed her longing for moments she couldn’t have because of her profession. Even something as small as a sleepover was hard to come by. She revealed it in a new social media appearance.
Serena Williams took to TikTok to post a video of herself getting ready. She was in New York where she was invited as a guest to speak at the NYT’s annual DealBook summit on December 4. Before her session, Williams thought of getting candid with her fans and shared some crucial anecdotes from her life. Especially the ones related to her career that never really allowed her to enjoy ‘normal’ things. Yes, she achieved a lot professionally. But, she also had to make personal adjustments in order to focus on her career. Such as not having a sleepover. “My girls always say that I am not normal and I didn’t get a normal life. So last night we had a sleepover and I’ve never really had a sleepover,” she began.
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Furthermore, she mentioned the very reason why she didn’t really feel like going for a sleepover to a friend’s house. Mentioning her great bond with her sisters, she said, “Well I had sisters all the time so I guess I didn’t need a sleepover. But well I guess I slept over every night. But so, we all stayed in my room and it was fun, it was a lot of fun.” Adding on to being unable to have ‘normal moments’, she said, “I started playing tennis like at literally 3 years old and then, I don’t know I’ve just always been playing.” She confessed that it’s not easy to have a consistent, smooth professional career without making compromises in your life. “You have to make a lot of sacrifices,” she said. Interestingly, though, it’s not the first time Serena has mentioned how difficult it’s been for her to maintain balance between her professional and personal life.
Serena played her last match at the 2022 US open and said goodbye to a phenomenal career, gilded with 73 titles and four Olympic golds. In an interview earlier this year, she mentioned that it wasn’t an easy decision to retire. However, it was also crucial in order to be normal again. And to enjoy her personal moments with family and loved ones. “It’s definitely not easy,” she said while moving away from tennis.
Adding further, she said, “I love sports and being active. Leaving something I was still good at to be a mom was such a difficult decision. But I wanted another kid, so I had to do that. Now it’s about finding balance and doing other things I’ve always loved.” Probably that’s the reason why the former World No.1 eventually had a realization to hang up her racket and embrace motherhood. With that, she’s trying to enjoy all the tiny moments she missed out on during her stint on the court.
These days, Serena Williams can be seen spending most of her time with daughters Olympia and Adira, and husband Alexis Ohanian. On social media, she keeps sharing precious moments from their family time on weekends. Now that she’s off the court, she really seems to be extremely happy with her new life as a loving mother and a wife.
