Venus could coach Olympia, says Serena
LONDON, Great Britain - In the eyes of many, Serena Williams may be the greatest tennis player of all time - but she's certain that she doesn't want daughter Olympia following in her illustrious footsteps.
"I would hope she doesn't play tennis," said the 23-time Grand Slam champion after her fourth-round win over Evgeniya Rodina at Wimbledon, where she is accompanied by Olympia for the first time. "Olympia is not playing tennis, unless of course she wants to."
The reason that Serena will attempt to steer her 10-month-old daughter away from the sport she loves so much is a protective one. "I don't want her to have pressure from what I did," she explained. "[The media] talking about, Are you going to be able to do as good as your mom? I don't want her to have that."
But as Serena is aware, mothers don't always get their own way when it comes to their children's life choices. If Olympia, who was pictured this week toting a mini racket bag, does end up choosing tennis, at least Serena can rest assured that she'll be in good hands.
"Venus said she would coach her," the former World No.1 revealed. "She just didn't want to travel. She said that, like, yesterday or the day before."
Serena said that she had initially reacted by saying that if anyone was to coach Olympia in her hypothetical career, it would be her - but a few days later, she reflected that she might not be the best choice anyway. "I'm not sure if I'm a great coach," mused the seven-time Wimbledon champion. "I could be a good mental coach. In terms of a tennis coach, I don't know if I have patience."
