Serena Williams Responds Powerfully to Alleged ‘Racist’ Comments About Her Baby

Serena Williams wrote a powerful response after a male tennis player allegedly made a racist comment about her pregnancy.

Over the weekend at the Fed Cup, Ilie Nastase, the Romanian team’s captain and a former tennis player, was overheard at a press conference making a derogatory comment about Williams’ baby, ESPN reports. A few days after Williams announced her pregnancy on Snapchat, Nastase allegedly said, according to ESPN: “Let’s see what color it has. Chocolate with milk?”

On Monday, Williams addressed the alleged comments in an Instagram post. “It disappoints me to know we live in a society where people like Ilie Nastase can make such racist comments towards myself and unborn child, and sexist comments against my peers,” she wrote. “I have said it once and I’ll say it again, this world has come so far and yet we have so much further to go.”

Williams, who has been frank about encountering racism and sexism in the tennis world in the past, also quoted Maya Angelou‘s poem about overcoming discrimination, “Still I Rise.” She vowed to continuing speaking up about these issues while not taking them to heart. “This or anything else will not stop me from pouring love, light and positivity into everything that I do. I will continue to take a lead and stand up for what’s right,” she wrote.

The International Tennis Federation, which did not immediately respond to Motto‘s request for comment, opened an investigation into Nastase and condemned his alleged remarks. “The ITF does not tolerate discriminatory and offensive language and behaviour of any kind,” the organization said in a statement, according to ESPN. “We are aware of alleged comments made by Romanian captain Ilie Nastase and have begun an immediate investigation so that we have the full facts of the situation before taking further and appropriate action.”

Nastase also came under fire for other comments he allegedly made during the weekend. According to the Associated Press, Britain’s Press Association said that Nastase called journalist Eleanor Crooks “stupid” for reporting on his alleged comments about Williams. He also allegedly referred to British tennis players Johanna Konta and Anne Keothavong as “f— b—ches,” which caused him to be ejected from a match and later banned from the tournament. Keothavong said that he had made her uncomfortable earlier in the week by repeatedly asking for her room number, according to ESPN.

The Romanian Tennis Federation did not immediately respond to Motto‘s inquiry seeking request for comment from Nastase.