Serena Williams spent 15 years grappling with body image issues because she looked “different” to other female tennis stars.
The former world number one retired from the sport in 2022 after 27 years on the professional tennis circuit and she’s now revealed she spent more than a decade worrying about her appearance because she felt like she didn’t fit in with her peers.
She told Porter magazine: “It was hard because when I was playing in the beginning – the first 15 years – my body was different.
“I had big boobs; I had a big butt. Every athlete was like super flat, super thin and beautiful, but in a different way. And I didn’t understand as an athlete how to deal with that.
“It does affect you mentally. Absolutely. You think you’re large for your whole life and you look [back] and you’re like: ‘I was fit. Yeah, I had big muscles. I didn’t look like these other girls but not everyone looks the same’.”
Serena, 44, revealed she also faced “negativity” over her race as well as her appearance and she is glad the next generation of tennis stars – such as Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka – don’t have to deal with the same issues.
She added: “Growing up and being Black in tennis, it’s just like, well, that comes with negativity …
“It’s changed [now]. No one’s calling these girls the [things] I was called. People would say we were like men and all this other stuff …
“I’m not going to let anyone bring me down. I put enough stress on myself. The last thing I’m going to allow is someone else to do that.
“But I’m so happy that girls nowadays don’t have to go through it as much. I mean, I think internet trolls are different. So, you have that to deal with …”
It comes after Serena previously admitted her successful career came with a “big cost” to her personal life.
The former sports star – who lives in Florida with her two daughters, Alexis and Adira and her husband Alexis Ohanian – revealed she has been battling the pros and cons of how her professional decisions could impact her family and relationships her “whole life”.
Serena told PEOPLE: “It definitely costs a lot. I’m here [at an event in California] without my kids, and that’s a big cost for me because I spend a lot of time with my children, and they’re very attached to me, which a part of me loves. So, it’s always some cost.”
The four-time Olympic gold medalist said the decisions she has made in her career have been “very expensive” and has had to take a lot of time to figure out if they are “worth it” in the long haul.
She added: “My whole life I’ve had to kind of weigh, like: ‘If I wanna win a championship, well what is that going to cost me?’
“It’s going to cost me time with my family, it’s going to cost me friends, it’s going to cost me relationships.
“And they’re very expensive. You have to decide if it’s worth it for you.”
