Advertisement

The 'powerful statement' behind Serena Williams' new outfit

Serena Williams has revealed the powerful message in her striking new outfit at the Australian Open.

Decked out in a new bottle-green playsuit which she described as a “Serena-tard”, Williams was playing her first grand slam match since last year’s US Open final meltdown.

‘I’LL KNOCK HIM OUT’: Shock details emerge in Hewitt-Tomic feud

‘WHAT DO YOU WANT?’: Kyrgios in bizarre exchange with journo over Hewitt ‘rift’

It was also her first match at Melbourne Park since beating older sister Venus, while pregnant in the 2017 final.

The 23-time grand slam champion missed the 2018 Australian Open after giving birth to daughter Olympia, now 16 months old.

And she revealed after her 6-0 6-2 thrashing of Tatjana Maria that her striking new outfit was a ‘powerful statement’ that the new mum was back.

Serena Williams in action. (Photo by PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty Images)
Serena Williams in action. (Photo by PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty Images)

“We design really far in advance at Nike,” she said in her post-match press conference.

“I knew that I have been working really, really hard in the off-season to be incredibly fit and incredibly ready.

“You know, I took a year off, and, you know, just get back with still trying to get 12 months under my belt of playing, actually.

“I wanted to be fit. I came back. Nike always wants to make an incredibly strong, powerful statement for mums that are trying to get back and get fit. That was basically it for me.”

Serena was resplendent in green. (Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images)
Serena was resplendent in green. (Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images)

As much as she savoured her return to Rod Laver Arena, Williams didn’t want to leave Olympia waiting much more than the 49 minutes it took to see off the German.

“Spending a lot of time with my daughter, that’s the priority for me,” said the former world No.1.

“As a working mum, I feel guilty. And I understand that that’s normal, but these are years I’ll never get back.

“I just try to spend every moment that I can when I’m not working with her.”

with AAP