Serena Williams revealed she was pregnant one week ago in a now-deleted Snapchat post. It turns out she wasn’t ready for the world to see it, and accidentally sent out a “belly bump” photo she was chronicling herself.
Serena Williams explains how she accidentally announced her pregnancy on Snapchat
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Serena spoke with Gayle King at TED2017 and detailed what it was like for her after accidentally telling the world she was pregnant before she was ready.
“I was on vacation, taking time for myself, and I have this thing where I’ve been checking my status and taking a picture every week,” she says. “I’ve been just saving it, but you know how social media is — you press the wrong button and…” Williams shrugs. “My phone doesn’t ring that much, and thirty minutes later, I’d missed four calls. So I picked it up and realized, ‘Oh no.’”
Immediately following the Snap the WTA congratulated Williams on her pregnancy, before deleting their tweet — causing confusion among tennis fans. Serena formalized the announcement earlier this week, just as she regained the world No. 1 spot.
People have been trying to work out whether she played during the Australian Open while pregnant, which Serena confirmed in the talk.
Williams says she found out about her pregnancy two week before the Australian Open, which she won in January — beating Steffi Graf’s record for career Grand Slams. “I was nervous,” she says. “I wasn’t sure what to do. Can I play? I know it’s very dangerous in the first 12 weeks or so, so I had a lot of questions.” But she decided she needed to. “I knew that at that moment, it was important for me to just focus,” she says. “I had to take all that energy and put it in a paper bag and throw it away. I really felt like I didn’t have time to deal with any extra emotions — any extra anything.” She felt immense pressure. “Pregnant or not, no one knew,” she says. “Every tournament where I show up, I’m expected to win. If I don’t win, it’s actually bigger news.”
Many have assumed that the news means we may have seen the last of Serena Williams on a tennis court, but she was quick to crush those concerns. Williams plans to return to the game after having her baby, saying “My story isn’t over.” She also plans to have a new fan in the stands.
“This is just a new part of my life. My baby is going to be in the stands, hopefully cheering for me and not crying too much.”
