Serena Williams has admitted she accidentally revealed her pregnancy to the world with a swimsuit photo on Snapchat.
The tennis star said she had been taking a picture of herself every week as a record of her pregnancy and had not intended to publish the photo on the social network.
“You know how social media is; you press the wrong button and there it is,” Williams said, speaking on-stage at the TED Conference in Vancouver.
“I had been so good about it and this one time I slipped”
She said she had only shared the news with a few people until the picture was posted.
Williams announced her engagement to tech entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, who co-founded the website Reddit, in December.
The 35-year-old said she discovered she was pregnant just two days before the Australian Open, where she won a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam.
Williams admitted to being nervous about playing while pregnant and said she played differently as a result, shutting out fatigue and stress.
“I had to take any negative emotions, bottle them up and figure out what the next step was,” she said.
Williams will not play tennis again this year, but says she intends to return to the court in 2018.
“I definitely plan on coming back”, she said.
“My baby is going to be in the stands, hopefully cheering for me and not crying too much.”
Williams also discussed what it’s like to play her sister Venus, who she beat in the final of the Australian Open.
“Playing Venus is like playing myself – she is my toughest opponent,” she said.
“On the court, we are mortal enemies, but the moment we shake hands we are best friends again. It might be a day later for me if I lose.”
The news of Williams’ pregnancy has already dominated headlines this week after Romanian Fed Cup captain Ilie Nastase was overheard saying “Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?”
Responding to the controversy, Williams said: “It disappoints me to know we live in a society where people like Ilie Nastase can make such racists comments towards myself and unborn child”.
An investigation has been launched into the Romanian’s behaviour after a series of outbursts at the Fed Cup match against Great Britain.
