Serena Williams’ name may be synonymous with tennis, but she’s making something clear. She’s a mother first.
Serena announced at a pre-Wimbledon press junket that she’s not on the list for the Tokyo Olympics team. Saying “I’m actually not on the Olympic list- not that I’m aware of. If so, then I shouldn’t be on it.”
Serena had said earlier that she wouldn’t want to play for the US Tennis Team if it meant she would have to be separated from her 3 year old daughter, Alexis Olympia, because of Covid restrictions. Though she declined to say specifically what caused her to back out.
“There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision and I don’t feel like going into them today,” she said. “Maybe another day. Sorry.”
In previous Summer Games, Williams won gold for the United States in both singles and doubles tennis at the 2012 London Olympics, in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Her gold medals for doubles were all shared with her older sister Venus.