Serena Williams Is Pregnant And Due This Fall

Tennis superstar Serena Williams is pregnant with her first child, and people are pretty excited about it. Williams has announced publicly that she’s due in the fall with her first child…and this means she played in the Australian Open AND WON her 23rd Grand Slam when she was around two months pregnant. Excuse us while we kneel at the Altar of Serena.

Williams, who is the highest-paid female athlete in the world, posted a picture of herself Wednesday on Snapchat captioned “20 weeks.” Speculation instantly went into overdrive. Amid the internet furor, Williams’ publicist, Kelly Bush Novak, released a statement to the Associated Press, saying in an email, “I’m happy to confirm Serena is expecting a baby this Fall.”

Williams will not be playing in any more tournaments this year, after pulling out of California’s BNP Paribas Open in April, citing a knee injury. Her publicist said Williams intends to return to the tennis circuit next year.

“Serena said that I should make sure if anyone asks that that is clear,” Bush Novak said in a telephone interview with The New York Times.

This baby is incredibly exciting news after Williams announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian this past December.

“I’m elated for her; I’ve seen her with our son, and she will be a great mother,” tennis star Andy Roddick, a former men’s world No. 1, told The New York Times in an interview. Roddick and Williams have been friends since childhood.

Though there is plenty of speculation as to whether or not Serena will actually return to tennis after childbirth (she is currently 35), many industry professionals seem to think that what Serena wants, Serena gets—and that she would have no problem jumping right back into the tennis circuit.

“I think if Serena wants to come back after having a baby, I think she’s proven at this point that age is not a big factor for her,” Pam Shriver, an analyst and a former leading player, said in an interview with The New York Times. “I don’t think it really matters if you’re 35 or 37 or 38. You’re part of that same age group, and once you’ve gotten over that mental hump of competing at this higher level in your 30s, which she obviously has, it is certainly possible.”

Either way, we are EXTREMELY excited to meet this bouncing bundle of baby joy. Here’s hoping the baby likes watching tennis!