United States tennis champion Serena Williams has revealed that she lost over 31 pounds using weight-loss medication.

The 43-year-old mother of two said she began the treatment early in 2024 after she stopped breastfeeding her second daughter, Adira River, who was born in August 2023.

According to Williams, in an interview with People Magazine, her struggle with weight started after the birth of her first child, Olympia, in 2017.

Despite intense training and a strict diet, she said she could not get back to her preferred size.

“I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained,” she recalled.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner explained that she was initially nervous about GLP-1 medication because of the controversy surrounding it.

“I did a lot of research on it. I was like, ‘is this a shortcut? What are the benefits? What are not the benefits?’ I really wanted to dive into it before I just did it,” she said.

She eventually signed up with Ro, a direct-to-patient healthcare provider, and began weekly injections.

“They were super supportive and it was easy to get the medication. I lost over 31 pounds using my GLP-1 and I was really excited about that weight loss,” Williams said.

The Olympic gold medallist added that the change has made her daily life easier.

“I just can do more. I’m more active. My joints don’t hurt as much. I just feel like something as simple as just getting down is a lot easier for me. And I do it a lot faster. I feel like I have a lot of energy and it’s great. I just feel pretty good about it,” she explained.

Williams stressed that the treatment worked because it supported the healthy lifestyle she was already maintaining.

“GLP-1 helped me enhance everything that I was already doing — eating healthy and working out, whether it was as a professional athlete at the top level of tennis or just going to the gym every day,” she said.

She also spoke on body image, insisting that her self-confidence had remained the same.

“Weight loss should never really change your self image. Women often experience judgment about their bodies at any size, and I’m no stranger to that. So I feel like you should love yourself at any size and any look,” she said.

Williams admitted that carrying more weight left her with joint pain, but added there was nothing wrong with her previous body size.
“It’s just not what I wanted to have. I just knew that I wanted to be where I personally felt comfortable,” she said.

Now focused on raising her two daughters with husband Alexis Ohanian, the tennis icon said she is determined to instil body confidence in them.

“With me going through what I’ve went through growing up in public and just having millions of people commenting on my body, it’s really important to teach them to be confident at any size, just like I try to be,” she added.