"Love reading but since I had Olympia, don’t think I’ve read a book" - Serena Williams on pursuing other big interests post-retirement

Tennis retirement was ideally supposed to free up more time for Serena Williams to spend more time pursuing her other big interests in life, with reading and watching movies among those interests. However, being a full-time mom to a five-year-old means that Williams has been quite pre-occupied with the same.

Along with spending a lot more time with her daughter Olympia, Williams has lent her focus to growing her business ventures. Amidst it all, with Olympia taking up most of her time and energy, Williams recently said that she has not been able to read a single book despite her love for reading.

Williams also revealed that going to the movies is her favorite thing to do as it allows her to switch off from her busy life and mentally relax a bit.

"I love reading, but ever since I had Olympia, I just don’t even think I’ve read a book," Serena Williams told ESSENCE.

"But I do love reading. I absolutely love going to the movies, it’s my favorite thing, it shuts my brain off."

Among Williams' other big interests is another sport - golf. Due to her busy life, she has not been able to play golf as frequently as she would like to, but plans to pick up the gold club more often soon.

"I’m not golfing at all these days. Although I am definitely going to pick up golf as soon as I have time, which hopefully will be very soon," Williams said with a laugh.

The American tennis legend did get to play a bit of golf recently, albeit for a new commercial for Michelob Ultra for the 2023 Super Bowl, which also features some other big names from the world of sports and Hollywood.

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"I am guilty of not always enjoying the championships" - Serena Williams on the life of a top-level athlete

Serena Williams retired from tennis at the 2022 US Open.

Serena Williams also shed light on the busy life of an athlete, saying that the hard work one regularly puts in to improve their skillset, along with the many other activities they are involved in, does not allow them to truly enjoy success. Williams said she herself has been guilty of not enjoying everything that her incredible success on the tennis tour brought along.

"As athletes, we get to do so much and we work so hard and sometimes I am very guilty of not always enjoying what the championships and things like that [bring]. So it’s super cool," Williams expressed.

Post-retirement, the 41-year-old has been deeply involved in working with her venture capital firm Serena Ventures. Recently, she has also been focusing on a few new projects with the Serena Williams Design Crew, her design initiative in collaboration with Nike.