Serena Williams is getting candid about how she’s feeling.
“I am not ok today. And that’s ok to not be ok. No one is ok every single day. If you are not ok today I’m with you. There’s always tomorrow. Love you,” Williams, 42, wrote via X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, November 28.
In a subsequent post to X, Williams shared a selfie with her three-month-old daughter Adira River, whom she shares with husband Alexis Ohanian, snuggling against her. “This makes me so happy,” she wrote.
This is not the first time that the tennis legend has opened up about her mental health. In September 2022, Williams had an honest discussion with Selena Gomez as part of the “Lose You to Love Me” singer’s mental health platform, Wondermind.
“Mental fitness for me is just really learning to shut down,” Williams explained. “You know, I did this years ago, before mental health was a topic on everyone’s mind. It was just like, ‘Alright, I’m shutting myself down today.’ Just subconsciously it was something I’ve always done.”
The seven-time Wimbledon champion, who retired in September 2022, noted that now that she is aware of the importance of putting yourself first — “especially mentally” — she has “shut down moments.”
“I have serious boundaries, and I don’t let anyone cross those boundaries with my time,” she revealed. “And it’s so bad ’cause I really don’t do anything for me. I’m terrible at that! I’ve said it time and time again, ‘I’m working on it!’ But, more or less, at least prioritizing what I need to do, and then when I’m turned off, I’m turned off.”
In August 2018, Williams revealed that she struggles with “postpartum emotions” after pulling out of the Rogers Cup for “personal reasons.” (Williams welcomed daughter Alexis Olympia in September 2017 with Ohanian, 40.)
“Last week was not easy for me,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk. Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom.”
In a discussion with Anna Wintour in February 2020 during New York Fashion Week, Williams revealed that her definition of a hero had changed since becoming a mother.
“My heroes are moms because women are superheroes,” Williams said via Time. “To have a baby and then have to go to work two or three weeks later or work a 9 to 5 … I’m fortunate to not have to do that.”
