Tennis superstar Serena Williams on Wednesday appeared to suggest she is pregnant, posting a photo of herself in a bathing suit on the social media site Snapchat with the caption “20 weeks.”
The 35-year-old, who will return to the No. 1 ranking in the world next week, later deleted the photo. A representative for Williams declined to comment on whether the post was a confirmation that she is pregnant.
Reuters reported that Williams is indeed 20 weeks into her term, that would mean she was approximately two months pregnant when she captured her record 23rd Grand Slam tournament title at the Australian Open in January.
Fans reacted with a mixture of awe and glee at the news.
“Serena Williams’ fetus is already ranked 200th in the world,” @BigHeadSports tweeted.
Williams, the highest-paid female athlete in the world, announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian last December.
The next Grand Slam tournament this year is the French Open, which starts in May. If Williams is 20 weeks pregnant and gives birth after a full term, she would have her child in early September, during the fourth Grand Slam, the U.S. Open in New York.
Other women have left the tour to have children and returned at a high level, though none has done so at Williams’ age. The Belgian player Kim Clijsters retired and had a child before coming back at age 26 and winning three Grand Slam titles as a mother.
Australians Evonne Goolagong and Margaret Court also won Grand Slam titles after having children.
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