Serena Williams announces birth of second daughter, Adira River
The Williams sisters were an unforgettable doubles team, winning 14 Grand Slam titles together. Now, there's another pair of girls in the family, as Serena Williams announced the birth of her second daughter on Tuesday.
Williams shared the news in a TikTok video featuring her husband, tech entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, and their daughter Olympia.
"Welcome, my beautiful angel," Williams captioned the post, which shows the family sitting together at a table before she gets up and returns with the bundled baby.
Ohanian also shared the news on social media, revealing that the couple named their new addition Adira River.
"I'm grateful to report our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama. Feeling grateful," he said. "@serenawilliams you've now given me another incomparable gift — you're the GMOAT. Thanks to all the amazing medical staff who took care of my wife & our daughter I'll never forget the moment I introduced @olympiaohanian to her baby sister."
The 41-year-old famously won the 2017 Australian Open for her 23rd and final Grand Slam while eight weeks pregnant with Olympia, who will be 6 years old next month.
In August 2022, Williams wrote a piece for Vogue detailing her decision to "evolve away from" tennis after the 2022 US Open. In the announcement, Williams was open about her plans to have another baby:
“In the last year, Alexis and I have been trying to have another child, and we recently got some information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family," she wrote. "I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”
She made her farewell with a thrilling US open run that included a win over world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit. Then Williams announced her second pregnancy at the Met Gala in May, captioning an Instagram post with: "Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the 3 of us."
The family learned they were having another girl during a unique gender reveal that relayed the news via drone show.
Serena's baby reveal lit up the sky 😍✨️
(via @serenawilliams) pic.twitter.com/ay3LJPJsRK— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 1, 2023
Williams faced health complications during her first delivery, leading to what she described as a "life or death" situation. After surviving four surgeries, she used her experience to advocate for improved maternal care for women of color, who are more likely to die from preventable pregnancy complications.
Since her last match, Williams has been consistently coy about her retirement (or break from tennis), seemingly leaving the door open for a return.
