Serena Williams ‘spending the next six weeks in solitude’

hannahwilks in News 16 Mar 2020
Serena Williams last played at the Australian Open in January (Photo by Corinne Dubreuil/ABACAPRESS.COM)

As tennis enters an unprecedented hiatus, Serena Williams revealed she will be spending the next month and a half with her immediate family.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion posted an Instagram video of her having her makeup done, along with a caption explaining how she intends to spend her time over the next six weeks.

Williams wrote:

Spending the next 6 weeks in solitude. Being a wife. Being a mom. Cooking. Cleaning. Spring cleaning. Face mask. Makeup tutorials. I’ll let you know how it goes…. stay safe everyone. This is serious.

The 38-year-old, currently ranked world no. 9, last played at the Australian Open in January, where she suffered a shock third-round loss to Wang Qiang.

Williams was due to play at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and at the Miami Open, where she is an eight-time champion, in March. But both tournaments were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The ATP Tour have suspended all events until the week beginning Monday 27 April due to public health concerns. The ITF have followed suit, suspending all tournaments until the week beginning Monday 20 April. They had already cancelled the Fed Cup Finals, to be played 14-19 April in Budapest, and play-off ties due to take place around the world.

The WTA has not officially announced a similar suspension, but are revealing the cancellation of events one by one. It was recently announced that the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, which is due to begin 20 April and at which five of the world’s top seven players was due to appear, will not take place, with local authorities saying it is ‘off the table’.

Williams’s most recent public appearance was as a guest judge on the finale of season 18 of Project Runway.

Williams recently posted a very sweet photo of herself with daughter Alexis Olympia, who was born in September 2017.

Other tennis players have been posting on social media about their unexpected free time. World no. 12 Petra Kvitova, who was due to defend her title at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart next month, encouraged people to ‘look after each other’ and keep the suspension of sport in perspective:

Caroline Garcia, Garbine Muguruza and Madison Keys posted similar messages.