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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Dominique Hines

Serena Williams opens up about her post-baby body struggles as she shares video

Serena Williams has shared her post-baby body struggles after welcoming her second child nine months ago.

The tennis champ, 42, took to Instagram to share a video of her trying on a Valentino denim skirt to test whether she had shed enough weight post-baby to fit into it.

"Okay, everyone, I have been working my [peach emoji] off!" Williams captioned the clip. 'Let's see what happens with my jean skirt. Can I fit it yet? Check it out!"

The clip showed the Wimbledon and US Open ace forcing her self to fit into the garment.. "Okay, so I am going to try on my skirt again to see if it's any closer than it was four weeks ago... Honestly, I feel like it's gonna fit the same," she said.

As she tried to pull the skirt above her hips repeatedly, she gave herself a bit of a pep talk and said: "It's getting there."

Unfortunately, no amount of self-motivation helped as she just could not get the item past her bum and ultimately gave up.

"I just wanna cry," said the gold medal Olympian. "But I'm not. I'm just gonna stop eating all those snacks." Williams was met with support from fans and celeb pals in the comments section.

"Thank you for doing this and showing that it's a process after giving birth for world class athletes," wrote actress Octavia Spencer. "You're even more stunning and real!"

A fan wrote: "Thanks for showing us that you have the same struggles we do,' one fan commented. 'Work out, try it on, work out, change it up, try it on…. All of our same goals too…. Thank you."

Williams gave birth to her second child nine months ago (Serena Williams / YouTube)

While another added: "If athlete Serena is also struggling, why am I beating myself up after my baby. I'm gonna sip on a milkshake and relax."

Williams revealed in January her big goal was to fit into the Valentino skirt. "I got this cool Valentino skirt when I was pregnant and I was like, 'I'm gonna be able to fit this when I don't have a belly,'" she said at the time.

"But this is my goal. Honestly, I should've been able to fit it by now, but I ran into some, um... I got distracted for about a month."

Williams welcomed her second child, daughter Adira River, with entrepreneur husband Alexis Ohanian in August. She and the Reddit co-founder, who wed in 2017, also share daughter Alexis Olympia Jr, six.

The tennis ace with her second child, daughter Adira River, husband Alexis Ohanian and their daughter Alexis Olympia Jr, six (Serena Williams/Instagram)

Williams also stirred fans on Tuesday that she may make a pro tennis comeback when she took to X to announce that she is "ready to hit some balls again" after taking a break from the sport in 2022 to focus on family life.

Williams hasn’t let her baby weight stop her from making glam appearances on the red carpet. She stunned on the red carpet at the star-studded 2024 Met Gala, held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City earlier this month.

The tennis superstar shone in a one-shoulder dress featuring a sash that turned into a dramatic train. at the event in a metallic gown by fashion house Balenciaga.  

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