Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Serena Williams has joked “Mama’s always watching” after her daughters Olympia and Adira found themselves surrounded by giant photographs of their tennis superstar mother during a shopping trip to Nike.
The tennis icon, 44, shared pictures of Olympia, nine, and Adira, three, posing beside new and huge black-and-white images of her playing tennis at a Nike store.
The family moment came during Serena’s remarkable return to competitive tennis at the US Open, where she has already played mixed doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz, and is preparing to reunite with her sister Venus Williams in the women’s doubles.
Posting the photographs of her daughters on Instagram, Serena joked: “@olympiaohanian and @adiraohanian took a little detour while shopping at @nike today… but Mama’s always watching.”
The former world No 1 shares Olympia and Adira with her husband Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder who she married in 2017.
Alexis has also been documenting his wife’s return to Flushing Meadows, recently sharing pictures of himself and their daughters watching Serena compete alongside Carlos.
One photograph showed Alexis with an arm around Olympia as she carried her younger sister while the family watched Serena and Carlos on court.
Alexis wrote: “Always cheering for mama @serenawilliams (and @carlitosalcarazz !!).”
Serena and Carlos received a wild card into the revamped US Open mixed doubles event, marking Serena’s first competitive appearance at Flushing Meadows since 2022.
The pair defeated Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool 5-3, 4-1 in the first round at Arthur Ashe Stadium before losing to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals.
Serena’s return has now moved into another significant chapter after she and Venus received a wild card for the women’s doubles, bringing one of tennis’s most celebrated partnerships back together at the US Open.
The sisters are due to begin their campaign against 14th seeds Chan Hao-ching and Maya Joint.
It will be the first time Serena and Venus have played doubles together at the tournament since 2022.
Serena and Venus have won 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles together, including the US Open in 1999 and 2009.
Serena’s individual career includes 23 Grand Slam singles titles – the most won by any woman during the Open era – including six US Open singles championships, seven Wimbledon titles and seven Australian Open crowns.
Her return to Arthur Ashe Stadium this summer came four years after she stepped away from professional tennis following the 2022 US Open.
Serena has also spoken about how different competing feels now Olympia and Adira are old enough to watch her.
Away from the court, Serena has repeatedly said that motherhood outweighs even the biggest achievements of her record-breaking tennis career.
Asked by Byrdie in 2024 what brought her the greatest happiness, Serena replied: “My kids.”
She added: “I can’t say that a Wimbledon trophy holds a candle to volunteering at my kid’s school.”
Serena shared another rare glimpse of family life over Easter this year, posting photographs with Olympia, Adira and Alexis on Instagram.
She wrote: “I don’t share these moments often, but being their mom is my favourite place to be.”
Serena added: “I’m with them 363 out of 365 days a year – and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. This weekend was everything.”
