“I’m so happy that she came out there” – Serena Williams as daughter makes her debut in the stands

Serena Williams had not won a singles match in the last 14 months – a major contributing factor to that was that she hadn’t played for 12 of those 14 months. So when she took the court at the Aviva Centre in Toronto on Monday for her first round match against world No 57 Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, she did not need any extra motivation.

But the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion got some extra motivation when she saw her daughter Olympia, aged four, in the stands. Olympia, who is a regular presence in her parent’s social media accounts and travels with her mom to tournaments, was watching her mom play from the stands for the first time ever.

“She’s never like sat at my match” – Serena

Williams may have played in front of tennis legends and royalty on several occasions but being watched by her daughter brought about mixed emotions – partly excited, partly nervous mom looking out for her child and partly wanting to be a good role model as she explained in her press conference later.

“She’s never like sat at my match. So I was super excited. I looked over and I saw her in the first middle of the first set and I was like, Oh, my God, why is she here?,” Williams said. “And then I went into mom mode, like, does she have on her sun cream. I was like, Okay, Serena, should I say something like, Take her upstairs to the suite. Because she never like, she’s never been to my match.,” Williams said.

“So it’s kind of cool that it happened in Toronto but I didn’t expect it. But I was like, Okay Serena, just let go and enjoy this. It was good for her to have that memory. I mean, it’s pretty cool. And she’s never had it because I’ve always kept her away. And I’m so happy that she came out there and so it was good. And then I was like, Okay, no racquet smashing (laughing) stay calm. “

“This kid (Olympia) has a lot of fun”

Serena Williams further added that her daughter does not give her any advise before matches and is usually just having a good time at tournaments.

“She doesn’t give me a lot of advice before the match because, you know, she just has a lot of fun. This kid has a lot of fun. But honestly it was really cool. And I was like really happy.”

In the end, it turned out to be a food day in the office for Williams, who won 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 58 minutes. The American, who turns 41 next month, will face either 12th seed Belinda Bencic or qualifier Terza Martincova in the second round.

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