Serena Williams had an unexpected health issue that needed surgery, and she recently provided an update for all her fans.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has kept herself busy and active since retiring, meaning fans were shocked to learn about the American's health issue when she announced it on Wednesday.
One of Williams' passions in the last two years since ending her career at the 2022 US Open is a startup she founded named Will Perform. It creates products for topical pain relief and skin care.
Williams had built experience in the business world by investing in companies while still playing, meaning the 43-year-old was ideally placed to be involved with a startup after retiring.
Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni recently spoke about Williams' and Maria Sharapova's business ventures, saying they earned more money than Nadal as a result, which is deserved after generating it.
Other ventures for Williams recently included attending the Olympic ceremony and doing video interviews on TikTok, during which she answered whether it is possible to play tennis while pregnant.
Williams looked as happy and healthy as always during those appearances, but she revealed a health concern that fans were not privy to, which required surgery to remove the issue.
The seven-time Wimbledon women's singles champion announced she had a brachial cyst removed after it kept growing and is grateful that she is healthy after the surgery.
"Back in May I found a lump showing on my neck. I immediately went to the doc got an MRI and was told I have a brachial cyst. Have you ever heard of that? They said I don't need to get it removed if I don't want. So I did not get it but it kept growing."
"I decided to get more test and 3 test later and one biopsy later everything is still negative but doctors advised I get it removed ASAP because it was the size of a small grapefruit and it could get infected or worse leak."
"So this is me removing it. I am feeling so grateful, and fortunate everything worked out, and most of all I'm healthy. I still made it to American doll with Olympia as promised. And yes all is ok."
Williams made the right decision to have further tests done when the cyst grew after doctors initially said it did not need to be removed. It is always better to be safe than sorry for health issues.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion's millions of fans are undoubtedly thrilled and relieved that Williams is okay. She can return to her various activities since retiring from tennis two years ago.
That was not the only health issue involving an inactive female tennis player. Petra Kvitova, who has been away on maternity leave throughout 2024, announced that she needed an emergency c-section to give birth to her first child.
Kvitova is also okay, but she is uncertain about returning to tennis after what she went through during her pregnancy.