Retired tennis champion Serena Williams has opened up about her 31-pound weight loss, aided by the use of a popular medication.
In a new interview, Williams revealed she used a GLP-1 — medications like Ozempic and Wegovy that impact satiety — to help her achieve her goals.
“I feel great,” she told the People. “I feel really good and healthy. I feel light physically and light mentally.”
Williams, 43, struggled to lose weight after giving birth to her first child, daughter Alexis Olympia, with husband Alexis Ohanian in 2017.
“I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained,” Williams, who announced her retirement from professional tennis in August 2022, said. “It was crazy because I’d never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard, ate so healthy and could never get down to where I needed to be at.”
She faced a similar struggle after giving birth to her second daughter, Adira River, in 2023, losing a lot of weight in two weeks but then plateauing.
Williams described the experience as “frustrating,” saying that she had never “taken shortcuts” in her career. She began researching GLP-1 medications to provide additional support.
“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.
Williams said she began weekly injections in early 2024, about six months after she gave birth and once she stopped breastfeeding.
She also acknowledged the controversy surrounding the use of GLP-1s, but remained adamant that the medication added to her healthy eating and workout routines.
“I just can do more. I’m more active,” Williams said of shedding the weight. “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.”
Currently training for a half-marathon — and tipped to come out of retirement to join her sister Venus at the US Open in the women’s doubles tournament — Williams plans to continue with her weekly injections as needed.
“I feel like I have a lot of energy and it’s great,” she said. “I just feel pretty good about it.”
