Serena Williams, like any other mother, speaks so passionately about her daughters and was recently asked a very interesting question about them.
Serena and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder and former CEO of Reddit, welcomed their first child, a baby girl, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., on September 1st, 2017. The tennis icon gave birth to her second daughter, Adira River Ohanian, last August.
During an interview with the New York Times, the 23-time Grand Slam champion talked on several topics, including her family, reflecting on her career, her rivalry with Maria Sharapova, and the cryptic post she shared of her practice on a tennis court.
Olympia, who turns seven this summer, is touted to succeed her mother on the tennis circuit in the future. She’s been exploring multiple sports, even though Serena previously revealed that she doesn’t like to play tennis very much.
The 42-year-old tennis legend was asked whether she saw some special qualities in her daughter, similar to what her father, Richard Williams, saw in her and older sister, Venus Williams, while growing up in Compton, California.
“That’s a really good question. I don’t know. I always look at my dad, and I think, How were you able to do that? Because I’m like, Oh, they’re so cute. I just want them to relax and I don’t want to over-push them.”
“But I would be devastated if I wasn’t pushed, because we wouldn’t be having this interview and there would never have been a Serena Williams. So I feel so fortunate that I had an opportunity to have that extra oomph.”
The former World No. 1 described her six-year-old firstborn as a “bright light” and “athletic” and shared Venus’ bold claim that Olympia was “more talented” than both of them. In the interview, Williams admitted that she is considering letting her father coach her daughter because she is “too soft.”
“But what do I see? The 8-month-old is so tiny, but Olympia is such a bright light, and she’s so athletic, to the point where it’s just not even humanly possible. Even Venus, she was like, “That kid has more talent than you and I combined,” and she’s not lying.”
“So I can see how my dad may have seen some potential in us. I’m just trying to figure out a way to harness all that. I already told my dad, “Maybe you have to coach her, because I’m too nice. I’m too soft, yeah.”
