Serena Williams says coronavirus has her giving her daughter the ‘side-eye’

The tennis champ, 38, gets real about parenting in social media update to followers

Mar 20, 2020

Serena Williams of the USA celebrates with daughter Alexis Olympia after winning the final match against Jessica Pegula of USA at ASB Tennis Centre on January 12, 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

The coronavirus pandemic can make anyone feel a little anxious and Serena Williams is no exception.

The tennis champ, 38, is taking the epidemic seriously and has been self-isolating herself with her family for the past two weeks — meaning she has a lot more time to spend mom-ing these days.

In a revealing social media video, she admitted that she is under major stress and has even thrown her 2-year-old daughter, Alexis Olympia, a little side-eye.

“I wanted to take a minute and talk about my experience with corona. It started out with me feeling like, ‘Oh, it can’t really affect me.’ Then suddenly Indian Wells was canceled and I was like, ‘Oh, okay … that’s weird, but I have a little time off and I’ll enjoy that time off,” she explained in a video.

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A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Mar 12, 2020 at 5:59am PDT

“That one cancelation led to another and led to another and then led to all this anxiety that I’m feeling. Now I’ve been social distancing for actually a really long time — two weeks now. But every little thing makes me really crazy.”

And just to demonstrate how crazy she’s become — and to perhaps provide from some levity — the video is edited to show Williams delivering her message in different colored tutus.

I am at work crying laughing!!! Queen is a mofo fool‼️ She is crazy!! ?????? #funny #hilarious #serenawilliams pic.twitter.com/0ahWeAi3wo

— Queen Jameka (@queenserena252) March 19, 2020

The always-relatable mom got real about the things that are making her anxious. The superstar opened up about how she’s being affected by the current state of affairs and revealed she has been struggling to keep her cool.

“By anxiety I mean I’m just like I’m on edge anytime anyone sneezes around me or coughs; I get crazy. And I don’t hang out with anyone so when I say anyone I mean, my daughter. She coughed and I got angry. I gave her a side-eye. I gave her that angry Serena. And then I got sad,” she admitted.

“I was like, ‘Is she okay? Is there something wrong with my daughter. Is there anything I can do. And I just don’t know what to do. So instead of being relaxed, I’m really under a ton of stress. I never expected to relax but it is what it is. We get through this, we have to.”

So many parents are trying to keep their mental health in check, particularly while quarantined with little ones. The more we open up about those hardships, the more we know we aren’t alone in the struggle.