Serena Williams Explains Exactly Why She Doesn’t Want To Be Olympia’s Tennis Coach
And lots of parents can relate.
Serena Williams may be known as a GOAT in the sports world, but the tennis star — who’s won 23 Grand Slam titles over the course of her career — would much rather be a player than a coach. She said it’s a hard “no” when it comes to teaching her 4-year-old daughter Olympia how to hit a ball with a racket.
"I don’t have the patience to teach tennis,” Williams smiled as she told Ellen DeGeneres, via People, why she doesn’t want to be her daughter’s coach in a new interview. “I don't really like to play with people who don't know how to play tennis well. It drives me nuts. So, I was like, 'I can't. I don't have the patience for this,' " the star said, "So I signed her up for a private class."
Williams anonymously signed Olympia up for tennis lessons, so the instructor didn’t know she would be training Serena Williams’ daughter until the last minute. “She kind of had a feeling,” Williams said. Still, could you imagine the responsibility?!
The public has gotten a little peek at Olympia’s game back in January, when Serena posted a picture of her little girl’s backhand, which is already looking impressive.
The 40-year-old played it coy when asked how Olympia is as a tennis player, joking if DeGeneres wanted the mom answer or the professional athlete answer. "She's all right,” Williams said. “I've seen four year olds that might take her out ... Her ambition is playing princess games."
Williams, who admitted how amazing her dad Richard was for training her and sister Venus, went on to say princesses are Olympia’s “whole life” — which might explain why the little one loves to dress up with her mommy.
“Listen, that’s my little twin,” Williams said. “I love her so much.”
Williams shares photos and videos of her and Olympia’s matching ensembles on Instagram, constantly praising her “bestie.” Olympia is Williams’ only child with husband Alexis Ohanian, but she is open to having more kids if and when the time is right. (Please read her harrowing birth story, though, which Williams recently shared in a moving essay on Elle.)
“Balance is key, you know, and just trying to find that balance,” she told Entertainment Tonight in February. “It’s always like, OK, are we ready? And I know the clock is ticking so I’m just like, OK, I need to figure out when that’s going to be.”
Future tennis pro or not, Olympia is blessed to have a mom like Serena Williams.
