Nothing about me right now is perfect – Serena Williams

Tennis star, Serena Williams has opened up about her complicated comeback, also stating that nothing about her is perfect at the moment.

Serena is the cover star of this month’s Time magazine and she spoke at length to writer Sean Gregory about her struggles on the court and also about her motherhood fears.

The 36-year-old, who welcomed a child only a few months ago and soon went back to begin playing professionally, also admitted that she was surprised she fell in love with a white man.

On the Time cover, Serena, who nearly died after complications from an emergency C-section while delivering her daughter Alexis Olympia, is seen clad in a black crop top that exposed her midriff. A thin scar can be seen on her abdomen, with the coverline reading;

Nothing about me right now is perfect. But I’m perfectly Serena.

Speaking about her marriage to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Serena said she always assumed she would marry a black guy but she and Alexis just clicked when they met.

I always assumed I’d marry a black guy. I always felt that I could relate more with a black guy, that we’d have more struggles in common, you know?, she said.

Serena’s need to return to tennis and also her need to never leave her daughter collided when her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, told her that unless she stopped breastfeeding Olympia, she would not return to the top of the tennis ranks. But Serena refused and nursed Olympia for the first eight months of her life.

Serena believes breastfeeding her daughter made it harder for her to get back into playing shape but said that was her utmost priority.

Speaking to Time, Serena said:

You have the power to sustain the life that God gave her. You have the power to make her happy, to calm her. At any other time in your life, you don’t have this magical superpower.

Speaking about Mouratoglou telling her to stop nursing, she said:

It’s absolutely hard to take from a guy. He’s not a woman, he doesn’t understand that connection, that the best time of the day for me was when I tried to feed her.

Serena says she wants Olympia to have a sibling. She’s learning on the job, like all parents. She still gets down, and has moments when she doesn’t want to hang out with Olympia and then feels terrible for it. And then there’s all the time she can’t bear to pry herself away, despite knowing that her game will suffer for it. But mostly, Serena is learning to recognize the swings, tell herself they’re normal and fight the urge to beat herself up.

Nothing about me right now is perfect, she says. But I’m perfectly Serena.