Serena Williams of the United States asks for quiet after she losses a point in her semifinal match against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sept. 8 at the 2016 US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. File photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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April 20 (UPI) -- She managed to win the 2017 Australian Open while eight weeks pregnant, but Serena Williams will miss the rest of the season, according to her spokeswoman.
Kelly Bush Novak told the New York Times that Williams is benched for the 2017 tennis circuit.
"Serena said that I should make sure if anyone asks that that is clear," Bush Novak told the Times Wednesday.
Williams is 20 weeks pregnant. She posted a photo in a one-piece swimsuit Wednesday on Snapchat with a caption that read: "20 weeks." She later deleted the post.
She will miss the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. She hasn't played since she won her 23rd Grand Slam in January in Melbourne. She later withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open.
"We're excited for Serena," WTA chief executive Steve Simon told CNN. "This is wonderful news and we wish her the very best. We'll look forward to seeing her when she's back competing again."
Williams, 35, announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in December. The couple announced the engagement on Reddit.
Williams is currently ranked No. 2 in the world, behind Germany's Angelique Kerber. She had a net worth of $150 million in 2016, according to Forbes. Her 23 major titles are a women's tennis record.