Entertainment

Serena Williams' Response To Her Daughter's Favorite Sport Will Make You Say "Aww"

by Sophy Ziss
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With a mom like Serena Williams and an aunt like Venus, you'd think Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. would be a natural tennis player. But as Williams revealed to E! News, that's actually not the case. Yes, Serena Williams' daughter loves soccer — of all the sports! — and the tennis star joked, "I'm a little heartbroken about it." Aww.

Maybe baby Olympia will take after her dad more than her mom. After all, Ohanian, Sr. has Armenian and German heritage — two countries that boast competitive soccer leagues — and is a fan of the sport himself. And hey, no one would blame little Olympia for wanting to let her superstar mom do her own thing.

To be fair, the couple's daughter — born September 1, 2017 (shout-out to Virgos) — is still young. Extremely young. She's still young enough that she barely counts as toddler-aged! So if Williams or her fans were really hoping Olympia would embrace the sport of tennis, there's so much time ahead of her to do it. On the other hand, though, the family already has a tennis great and a tech genius, so maybe branching into expert-level soccer gameplay actually is her destiny. Why not make your own mark on a family dynasty?

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Apart from joking around about her baby's hobbies, Williams got real with E! News about the challenges of being a working mother. Williams has long been candid about her experiences training or traveling with a young child at home — explaining, for example, that missing her daughter's first steps for Wimbledon training affected her emotionally. When she concluded her run at Wimbledon in 2018, she famously dedicated her performance to every working mom out there. It seems as if Williams wants to drive home the point that no matter how rich or famous or world record-breaking you are, when you're a working mom with a young child at home, balancing work and motherhood is a challenge.

"It's not easy being a working mom, but that's what we do. Women are strong and we are continuing to be, so I'm really proud of that," Williams told E! News. The tennis great added that she does believe a true work-life balance exists, and while she's not sure if she's discovered her "personal" one, she's definitely "getting there". Meanwhile, she and her endlessly supportive husband are obviously doing all they can to keep Olympia involved in her family legacy. Just check out this picture from July 2018, which the couple captioned "Wimbledon Ready."

See? The precious baby doesn't just have a tennis bag of her own — she has a personalized pink and white bag her mom designed for her. Admittedly, one could argue that the parents are trying too hard to get her into tennis, and what young person was ever enthusiastic about the hobbies their parents forced them into? Maybe that's why Olympia has a penchant for soccer. Or maybe it's one elaborate cover story for the fact that Olympia is so good at tennis before the age of two, they want to protect the universe from her talents.

Either way, it's good to know that Williams was just joking about being "heartbroken" over her little one's hobbies. Can't wait to see Alexis Olympia Ohanian Sr. and Jr. court side during the U.S. Open — especially if they're wearing soccer jerseys.