With every loss, there’s something to gain and Serena Williams is taking the crushing loss to 20-year-old Naomi Osaka like a champ and using the defeat as a teachable moment.
“Every tournament is an opportunity for me to better understand the areas I need to improve to be my best,” she told Vogue. “Naomi played a great match and I learn something each time I play. I look forward to continuing my return by progressing every day. I’m so grateful for my fans who continue to support me every step of this incredible journey.”
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Williams lost to Osaka in the first round of the Miami Open, and has had some struggles since returning from her 13-month maternity leave. Williams triumphantly returned to tennis earlier this March and is still getting her groove back on the court. She played the Haitian-American-Japanese rising star, Osaka, but in a shocking turn of events, Williams lost to the up-and-coming tennis phenom.
The 36-year-old mom is fiercely competitive and hates to lose, which could be the reason why she chose to skip out on a press conference after the loss to Osaka.
Williams took to Instagram to praise her successes like the ability to even walk after having serious complications following the birth of her daughter Alexis Jr.
“4 months ago I could not walk to my mailbox… but I will keep going forward and I’ll get there,” she wrote.
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Serena Almost Died Giving Birth
The newly married tennis pro shared scary post-partum moments that many women on Twitter could unfortunately relate to and they noted how Williams’ celebrity did not spare her from what seemed to be dismissive treatment from hospital staff.
According to Vogue:
“She walked out of the hospital room so her mother wouldn’t worry and told the nearest nurse, between gasps, that she needed a CT scan with contrast and IV heparin (a blood thinner) right away. The nurse thought her pain medicine might be making her confused. But Serena insisted, and soon enough a doctor was performing an ultrasound of her legs. ‘I was like, a Doppler? I told you, I need a CT scan and a heparin drip,’ she remembers telling the team. The ultrasound revealed nothing, so they sent her for the CT, and sure enough, several small blood clots had settled in her lungs. Minutes later she was on the drip. ‘I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!’”
After that harrowing situation, Williams popped open her fresh C-section wound from the forceful coughing caused by the blood clots. Williams and her daughter are now faring well, but women on Twitter rallied together to highlight that Williams’ post-partum experience is not uncommon for women, especially Black women.
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