Serena Williams is expecting a baby and will not play again this year but aims to return to the women’s tour in 2018.
The 35-year-old posted a picture of herself via Snapchat captioned “20 weeks” on Wednesday and her publicist Kelly Bush Novak made an official announcement.
“I’m happy to confirm Serena is expecting a baby this fall,” the publicist said in a statement.
While Williams won’t play again this year, “she looks forward to returning in 2018,” Bush Novak said.
Williams’ social media post showed the 35-year-old in a yellow swimsuit that revealed the baby bump.
But the post was quickly taken down, lending to an air of mystery over its meaning.
In December, Williams announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, first sharing that news on the Reddit social media site.
If Williams is 20 weeks into her pregnancy, that means she was already expecting when she won her record-setting 23rd Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January – where she beat her elder sister Venus in the final.
Here are a selection of the best tweets from the tennis community, congratulating Serena’s news:
And here’s some more reaction…