Serena Williams has opened up about how difficult she is finding social distancing.
The 23-time grand slam singles champion revealed on Instagram more than a week ago that she planned to spend six weeks at home because of the coronavirus crisis. And, in a post on TikTok, Williams explained she is struggling to deal with the anxiety she is feeling.
The 38-year-old said: “I wanted to take a minute and talk about my experience with corona. It started out with me feeling like: ‘Oh it can’t really affect me.’
And then suddenly Indian Wells was cancelled and I was like: ‘Oh, OK, that’s weird but I have a little time off and I’m going to enjoy that time off.’ And then one cancellation led to another and then led to another and led to all this anxiety that I’m feeling.
“Now I’ve been social distancing for actually a really long time, for probably two weeks now, and every little thing makes me crazy. And by anxiety I mean I’m just on edge. Any time anyone sneezes around me or coughs I get crazy. I don’t hang out with anyone, and when I say anyone I mean my daughter.
“She coughed, I got angry and gave her a side-eye. I gave her that ‘angry Serena’ and then I got sad. I was like: ‘Is she OK? Is there something wrong with my daughter? Is there anything I can do?’ I just don’t know what to do, so instead of being relaxed I’m really under a ton of stress.”
The ATP and WTA announced this week there will be no tournaments until June, with the whole of the clay-court season called off.
Serena Williams says social distancing has put her ‘on edge’
Serena Williams says she is “on edge” as the US tennis star revealed the impact self isolating is having on her psychologically amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The 23-time grand slam winner said last week she would be entering into six weeks of “solitude” to take precautions against contracting COVID-19, only spending time with her family.
However, in a series of videos posted on her TikTok account, Williams detailed her experience so far, in particular her worries around the health of her two-year-old daughter Olympia.
“Now I’ve been social distancing for actually a really long time, for probably two weeks now, and every little thing makes me crazy,” Williams said. “Any time anyone sneezes around me or coughs I get crazy.
“She (Olympia) coughed, I got angry and gave her a side-eye. I gave her that ‘angry Serena’ and then I got sad. I was like: ‘Is she OK? Is there something wrong with my daughter? Is there anything I can do?’
“I just don’t know what to do, so instead of being relaxed I’m really under a ton of stress.”
Both the ATP and WTA announced this week there will be no tournaments played until June at the earliest.
