Serena Williams says she feels like “a super hero” when she wears the striking cat suit that she donned for her first Grand Slam match in nearly 500 days earlier today. Williams, who was out for more than a year after discovering she was pregnant just before the 2017 Australian Open.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion gave birth to Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr in September, 2017 and after making her competitive return in 2018, she got back to winning ways at the French Open with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Kristyna Pliskova.
But fans and pundits on Twitter were struck by her all-black skin-tight jump suit with a red waistband sash, and Williams was more than happy to discuss the decision afterwards.
“I feel like a warrior in it, like a warrior princess kind of, queen from Wakanda maybe,” Williams said, referring to the fictional land in which recent film “Black Panther” is set.
“I’m always living in a fantasy world. I always wanted to be a super hero, and it’s kind of my way of being a super hero.
“I feel like a super hero when I wear it.”
She added: “It’s cool. I call it like my Wakanda-inspired cat suit. It’s really fun. Although we designed it way before the movie, but still, it kind of reminds me of that.
“It was comfortable. I tried it on a couple of times before. Hadn’t tried it on in a long time, like, over a month. So I was just winging it in the last minute.”
Williams will take on Ashleigh Barty in the second round, claiming to be glad just to have won a match back at Roland Garros.
But the legendary player will have one eye on a fourth French Open title, which also rely on her body holding up under the pressure of two weeks of tennis for the first time since her return.
Williams spoke candidly about how she “almost died” after giving birth to her daughter and admitted that her outfit was partially a nod to that.
“I had a lot of problems with my blood clots, and, God, I don’t know how many I have had in the past 12 months,” Williams added.
“So it 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 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.
I definitely feel like it is an opportunity for me to inspire a whole different group of amazing women and kids. It just kind of expands that, and I really, really embrace it.
It’s a fun suit, but it’s also functional so I can be able to play without any problems.”
