As the world knows, Serena is more than a record-smashing, boundary-breaking tennis champion. Her achievements, on and off the court, make her one of the most recognizable names and faces in the world – the G.O.A.T.
Serena’s lifelong passion for design led her to fashion school, which she attended in between winning Grand Slams. In 2018, she launched her own clothing line, S by Serena, designed to empower people to look and feel their absolute best. She launched a new line in 2021 and its getting rave reviews. Yet, it all started back in 2018 when she took her fashion to the tennis court.
In her first Grand Slam match in nearly 16 months, back in 2018, Williams defeated Kristyna Pliskova, 7-6 (4), 6-4, in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday.
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Much has changed in Williams’s life since she last played on one of the game’s biggest stages, winning the 2017 Australian Open.
She is now married and the mother of an daughter. Ranked No. 1 when she left the game, now she's slowly building back up her rank as an unseeded player after playing only four singles matches on tour this season.
And she has been doing it all while wearing a stylish black lycra bodysuit that fit her like a sleek, sexy superhero.
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“I call it like my Wakanda-inspired catsuit,” Williams said, in a reference to the blockbuster movie Black Panther. Yet this was not a purely sartorial decision, it was for her health too.
Tennis fans and naysayers alike noticed that in just about everyphotograph taken since Williams had started training again, she was wearing tight leggings. Some had privately speculated that she might be covering up knee problems, but it wasn't that at all.
“I had a lot of problems with my blood clots,” she said. “God, I don't know how many I have had in the past 12 months. So there is definitely a little functionality to it. I have been wearing pants, in general, a lot when I play so I can keep the blood circulation going. It's a fun suit, but it's also functional so I can be able to play without any problems.”
If you remember, Williams has a history of blood clots. Back in 2011, she spent nearly 12 months incapacitated by a cut to her foot, and in July of that year, she ...
...had a pulmonary embolism. She revealed that the clot in her lung had been a life-threatening condition. "I was on my death bed at one point – quite literally. I've had a serious illness but at first I didn't appreciate that," she said.
One of the more recently publicized blood clots was when she started to have trouble breathing while recovering from her C-section in 2017. She thought she was having another blood clot, and told the medical staff she needed a CT scan and treatment for blood clots. Her doctors initially did not honor her request, and instead performed an ultrasound on her legs, Williams told Vogue. But eventually, they did give her a CT scan, which indeed showed that she had several blood clots in her lungs, known as pulmonary embolisms, according to Vogue.
Williams was put on a life-saving blood-thinner medication, but this had the side effect of preventing her surgical C-section wound from healing properly. Her surgical wound reopened, and doctors performed another surgery in which they found a hematoma, or a mass of clotted blood, in her abdomen. She needed another operation to insert a filter into a major vein to prevent more clots, Vogue said.
Compression stockings or outfits like Serena's are specially designed to apply pressure to your lower legs, helping...
... to maintain blood flow and reduce discomfort and swelling. They may be prescribed by your doctor for conditions that cause poor blood flow in your legs. They help to slow the progression of vein disease and promotes a stronger circulatory system by supporting weak or wavy (also known as incompetent) veins and valves and accelerating blood flow back to the heart.
"It feels like this suit represents all the women that have been through a lot mentally, physically, with their body to come back and have confidence and to believe in themselves," Williams said after beating Pliskova. "I definitely feel like it is an opportunity for me to inspire a whole different group of amazing women and kids."
She sums up her catsuit as an inspiration on her social media accounts:
"Catsuit anyone?" she posts on Instagram. "For all the moms out there who had a tough recovery from pregnancy—here you go. If I can do it, so can you. Love you all!!"
