Serena Williams hints at pregnancy with Snapchat selfie (Update: She's due in the fall!)

By Chris Chase
Published

UPDATE (7:15 p.m. ET): A representative for Serena Williams confirmed the tennis star is pregnant and is due this fall.

Tennis superstar Serena Williams revealed she's pregnant in a Snapchat post sent Wednesday morning. In it, the all-time Grand Slam champion poses for a selfie in a revealing yellow bikini with the suggestive caption: "20 weeks." If the logical assumption of a pregnancy holds true (and we'll only be convinced when she actually, definitively declares that she is), it means Serena won the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant.

https://twitter.com/JarettSays/status/854715386838736896

Despite not having played a tournament since the Australian Open (and being pregnant for the last five months), Serena will actually ascend to No. 1 in the rankings on Monday, overtaking the spot from Angelique Kerber, who's struggled greatly since she passed Serena for the top ranking. While details are scant (seriously: we're still only going on "20 weeks), it's logical to assume the pause button has been hit on Serena's tennis career.

Williams, 35, announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in December (about 16 weeks ago if you're trying to do the math).

So far, Serena has yet to post the news on her other social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Technically, she hasn't said she's actually pregnant either, leading to at least a little speculation that maybe she's pulling one over on her fans. It's not a big jump to assume pregnancy when someone takes a picture of where the baby bump should be and writes "20 weeks" on it, but if one wanted to joke around, this would be a good time to write "20 weeks" while posing in a sleek bathing suit. Exactly 20 weeks from today, it'll be New York Fashion Week, an even where Serena has held court for years after her usual U.S. Open success.

Victoria Azarenka, a former No. 1, recently had a child and plans on returning from her long layoff this spring. In the aughts, Kim Clijsters retired, had a child, then came back to the sport better than ever, winning three Slams post-baby as compared to one Slam pre-child. She's one of three women to win a Slam after becoming a mother.