--- title: Serena Williams Gives Vogue Interview About Daughter description: Serena Williams isn't keen on her daughter following in her very accomplished footsteps because she would like her to have a "normal life." canonical: https://time.com/5096845/serena-williams-doesnt-want-daughter-to-play-tennis/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-10T16:19:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:40.576Z og:title: Serena Williams Doesn't Want Daughter to Play Tennis og:description: "I’d like her to have a normal life. I didn’t have that.” og:url: https://time.com/5096845/serena-williams-doesnt-want-daughter-to-play-tennis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4e9c76dda87173/6988f7bb22fb850525e24554/serena-williams-daughter-olympia-c-section.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Glamour Celebrates 2017 Women Of The Year Awards - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Serena Williams Doesn't Want Daughter to Play Tennis twitter:description: "I’d like her to have a normal life. I didn’t have that.” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4e9c76dda87173/6988f7bb22fb850525e24554/serena-williams-daughter-olympia-c-section.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Go Through a Different Door.' Why Serena Williams Doesn't Want Her Daughter to Follow Her Career Path  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 10, 2018 4:19 PM UTC  BROOKLYN, NY - NOVEMBER 13: Serena Williams attends Glamour's 2017 Women of The Year Awards at Kings Theatre on November 13, 2017 in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Glamour) BROOKLYN, NY - NOVEMBER 13: Serena Williams attends Glamour's 2017 Women of The Year Awards at Kings Theatre on November 13, 2017 in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Glamour)Bryan Bedder—Getty Images for Glamour  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 10, 2018 4:19 PM UTC [Serena Williams](http://time.com/collection/firsts/4921998/firsts-full-list/)‘ baby daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. may have already “won” her first grand slam because her mother was [eight weeks pregnant with her when she won the 2017 Australian Open](http://time.com/4856945/expecting-mom-serena-williams-says-tennis-maybe-skips-a-generation/), but don’t expect Williams to be pushing her to become a tennis star. In an interview with [_Vogue_](https://www.vogue.com/article/serena-williams-vogue-cover-interview-february-2018), where Williams and Olympia appear on the February cover together and Williams reveals the health scare she had after having an emergency C-section, she talks about how she has no intentions of grooming her daughter to follow in her very prestigious footsteps on the tennis court. “I would hate her to have to deal with comparisons or expectations,” Williams said. “It’s so much work, and I’ve given up so much. I don’t regret it, but it’s like _Sliding Doors_: Go through a different door and lead a different life. I’d like her to have a normal life. I didn’t have that.” Williams also shared that she felt extremely blessed that she had a daughter, however, because it gives her the opportunity to teach her to dream big, especially as a woman. “I think sometimes women limit themselves,” she said. “I’m not sure why we think that way, but I know that we’re sometimes taught to not dream as big as men, not to believe we can be a president or a CEO, when in the same household, a male child is told he can be anything he wants. I’m so glad I had a daughter. I want to teach her that there are no limits.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5096845/serena-williams-doesnt-want-daughter-to-play-tennis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5096845/serena-williams-doesnt-want-daughter-to-play-tennis/"},"headline":"'Go Through a Different Door.' Why Serena Williams Doesn't Want Her Daughter to Follow Her Career Path","datePublished":"2018-01-10T16:19:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:40.576Z","description":"\"I’d like her to have a normal life. I didn’t have that.”","url":"https://time.com/5096845/serena-williams-doesnt-want-daughter-to-play-tennis/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","viral","motherhood","serena williams"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4e9c76dda87173/6988f7bb22fb850525e24554/serena-williams-daughter-olympia-c-section.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4e9c76dda87173/6988f7bb22fb850525e24554/serena-williams-daughter-olympia-c-section.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Glamour Celebrates 2017 Women Of The Year Awards - Arrivals","caption":"Glamour Celebrates 2017 Women Of The Year Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Bryan Bedder—Getty Images for Glamour","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5096845/serena-williams-doesnt-want-daughter-to-play-tennis/","name":"'Go Through a Different Door.' Why Serena Williams Doesn't Want Her Daughter to Follow Her Career Path"}}]}] ```