Serena Williams is pregnant! The amazing thing is that she has been that way for some time, yet played in the Australian Open anyway. She was ten weeks past the point of conception when she dominated the first Grand Slam of the year, and about ten weeks past the announcement of her engagement. With a baby on the way, however, her days of dominating Tennis may be coming to an end soon.
Baby on the way
Williams appeared to reveal the baby news via Snapchat, with a caption that read "20 weeks." The timeline makes sense, if somebody were to really parse it over, as she announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian just days before the New Year. The fact that she didn't drop a single set during the Australian Open while pregnant is remarkable on its own.
Since then, Williams hasn't played a single match, despite regaining her top ranking following the major victory. A knee injury has been cited as her reasoning for dropping out of tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, but now it seems like her pregnancy might've been the pivotal factor.
The news hasn't been confirmed yet, however, and the WTA deleted a tweet it sent out congratulating its biggest star. If the news is true, the 35-year old will likely be forced to miss the French Open and Wimbledon, and may miss the remainder of the season's schedule.
Life change could signal changing of the guard
For Williams, this will be her first child. She has worked throughout her career to rise up the ranks of the greatest tennis players and is close to reaching the pinnacle of her sport's all-time legacy. She has missed time with various injuries in the past, but she has never missed time for something as potentially altering as pregnancy. People - especially athletes - respond differently to the physical toll of carrying another human being inside oneself.
Williams is one of the biggest stars in all of sports, so while her pregnancy is great news personally, it could be detrimental to women's tennis as a whole. Outside of her sister, Venus, the only other name that draws real attention to the sport is Maria Sharapova, who will return from a lengthy suspension next week and is under a cloud of performance enhancing suspicion. The game will need new stars to step up in the absence of the biggest star in the history of the sport, who was already entering the twilight of her career before the latest news surrounding her personal life.