Serena Williams Won A Grand Slam While Pregnant

Serena Williams, the tennis superstar, has just announced that she is 20 weeks pregnant with her first child, with fiance Alexis Ohanian, the founder of Reddit.

Serena posted a picture of herself in a swimsuit on Snapchat to seemingly announce the news, captioning the photo '20 weeks'. However, the tennis star later deleted the picture from her ‘Story', and her Instagram stories, prompting many to wonder if the news was true.

However, an official representative for the player confirmed that she is "expecting a baby in the fall" - or the autumn, to all of us in the UK.

And, proving that women can do just about anything, the sports pro and current number 2 tennis player in the world was two months pregnant when she won the Grand Slam tournament title at the Australian Open back in January 2017, if it is accurate that she is 20 weeks pregnant now.

(Serena Williams

© Snapchat)

The tennis pro, who is 35, is still dominating tennis tournaments around the world, at an age where most players have retired - think Ana Ivanovic, 2008 world number 1, who retired last year at the age of 29.

The superstar will actually return to world number one next week, which is a title she may just be able to hold on to throughout her pregnancy. According to the BBC, she would be eligible to retain her ranking under the World Tennis Association Special Ranking rule - but only if she returns to the court within 12 months of giving birth.

US Open Tennis took to Twitter to congratulate Serena on her special news...

[twitter]

Andy Roddick, former men's world number one, who is also a good friend of Williams, also said, "I'm elated for her; I've seen her with our son, and she will be a great mother."

(Serena Williams at the Australian Open in January 2017, when it's estimated that she was two months pregnant)

Chris Evert, another former world number 1, said that she text Serena on Wednesday. She said, "Getting married and having a child is a special journey. She, to me, is more than ready for this lifestyle change. It's been 20 years on tour."

Serena Williams has been a complete superstar of the tennis world since she entered the game at the tender age of 14, recording many of her first career wins against the top 10 players in the world at the time. She first played alongside her sister Venus at the age of 16, in a Battle of the Sexes.

And she's only gone on to bigger and better things. The tennis pro holds the record for the most major wins by a tennis player in the Open Era, with a grand total of 23 Grand Slam wins, and is the only player to have won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades.

And rightly, the tennis player is suitably rewarded for her devastating wins. In 2016, Serena was the highest paid female athlete on record, worth a total of $28.9 million, gathered both from prize money and advertising endorsements.

Serena got engaged to her fiancé Alexis back in December, and rumours were flying that the pair were set to wed late in 2017 - apparently, with guests Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in tow, the former of whom is a good pal of the tennis player.