serena williams daughter olympia tennis ellen© Photo: Getty Images

Serena Williams reveals surprising fact about daughter's upbringing - fans react

She definitely has her reasons

Beatriz Colon - New York
New York WriterNew York
May 4, 2022

Serena Williams is undoubtedly a proud mom to her daughter Olympia Ohanian, who she had with husband Alexis Ohanian in 2017, and never shies away from sharing sweet photos and videos of the two.

MORE: Serena Williams flooded with love as she achieves lifelong dream

Still, when her daughter isn't with her, she's not always keen on people knowing that the four-year-old's mom is one of the world's most famous and successful tennis stars.

The athlete recently appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to share the sneaky tactic she used when she wanted her daughter to learn tennis, but wasn't willing to teach her herself.

WATCH: Serena and Olympia are mom and daughter goals in matching pajamas

MORE: Serena Williams displays pure opulence posing in cut-out midi-dress

First, she hilariously explained why, as a professional tennis player, she wouldn't teach her own daughter to play.

She confessed to Ellen: "I don't have the patience to teach tennis. It's so weird but I don't really like to play with people who don't know how to play tennis well… it drives me nuts."

The discussion was prompted by the show's host, when she told the star, speaking of Olympia: "So you enrolled her in tennis classes with a coach, but you did not tell the coach that you were the mother of that child. That is just cruel," she joked, as Serena and the audience fell into a fit of laughter.

The hilarious admission

She did admit that the woman she hired definitely had her suspicions.

MORE: Serena Williams stuns in a polka-dotted bikini in intimate new selfie

MORE: Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian jokes he is 'bummed' after tennis star posts wedding photos

She explained that while the teacher was in a class with the toddler, Serena went on her Instagram to tell her followers she was enrolling Olympia in tennis classes.

© Photo: Instagram

Olympia seems to be growing to match her mom in fashion and sports

The Olympian then revealed: "The lady followed me, so she was like, 'It could be me,' so she didn't know it was gonna be her but she was like, 'I must be in the running of that.' She kind of had a feeling about it."

Fans raved about the confession, and understood the star's intentions, but couldn't help but sympathize with the coach she hired, writing: "I'd be a ball of nerves trying to teach that baby," and: "No pressure coach… no pressure," as well as: "I love her honesty!"

Read more HELLO! US stories here

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. 

Sign up to HELLO Daily! for the best royal, celebrity and lifestyle coverage

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More Parenting

See more