Serena Williams expressed her disappointment at seeing her five-year-old daughter Olympia not have an interest in playing tennis, despite being “really good” at the sport. Williams vowed to find a way to ensure that Olympia begins to thoroughly enjoy tennis as she does not want her daughter’s talents to go to waste.
Young Olympia has been spotted playing tennis with her mother in the past, with her skills on the court reminding Venus Williams of her and Serena’s mother, Oracene Price. Around the time of her retirement, Serena Williams also once suggested that Olympia did not like the fact that tennis took up most of the 23-time Grand Slam champion’s time, giving them less time together.
Williams recently shed more light on her daughter’s love-hate relationship with tennis and her lack of interest in the sport did not sit well with the American great.
“Olympia doesn’t actually like to play tennis too much,” Serena Willliams said on the CBS show ‘Person to Person with Norah O’Donnell.”
“That’s a little disappointing for me, but she’s actually really good at it. So we are trying to figure out a way to get her to play a little bit.”
Throwing further light on what she plans to do to pique the five-year-old’s interest in tennis, Williams said that Olympia would probably enjoy it more if she played in a group as she loves being social and spending time with friends.
“Olympia loves being social…She loves being around friends, she loves going to school,” Williams continued.
“Maybe I can push her into tennis by getting other kids to have a group lesson, I think that’s what I’m gonna do…I really want her to play at least a little bit, because she’s actually really good at it.”
“The time off goes to my daughter and that’s never super easy” – Serena Williams on her post-retirement life
After bidding farewell to the game at the 2022 US Open last September, Serena Williams admitted on more than one occasion that she often struggles to relax. Williams reiterated that she still has not ‘figured out the formula’ to relax as she spends most of her time off with her daughter Olympia. However, Williams is learning how to relax and said that the normal activity of watching a movie is also a big step for her.
“I haven’t figured out the formula to relax. I feel like I’m getting better at it in terms of constructing my day to have time off, but then of course the time off goes to my daughter and that’s never super easy,” Williams said on the same.
“This morning I did sit down for an hour and did nothing. Actually I turned on the TV and watched a movie which doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s huge for me,” she added.
Post retirement, the 41-year-old has also devoted a lot of time to growing her firm Serena Ventures and attending various events around the world. She caught up with former long-term Maria Sharapova at one such event.