Serena Williams’ return to the tennis court comes after a major health transformation during retirement.
After retiring in 2022, the tennis legend gave birth to her second child, which was followed by significant weight loss. Williams said she benefited from taking a GLP-1 drug and that the transformation was important for helping her live a healthier life moving forward.
Williams said her health issues extended beyond the wear and tear of being a star athlete for decades, noting that she had long-term health concerns tied to her weight. Now, the 44-year-old says she is in some of the best shape of her adult life.
Here’s how Williams achieved significant weight loss in retirement.
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Serena Williams weight loss
After Williams had her second child in 2023, she went on a weight-loss journey that lasted a few years. In an appearance on the TODAY Show last Summer, Williams explained why she retirement was key for her to properly lose weight.
“As an athlete and as someone that has done everything, I just couldn’t get my weight to where I needed to be at a healthy place, and believe me I don’t take shortcuts. I do everything but shortcuts,” Williams said. “I literally was playing a professional sport, and I could never go back to where I needed to be for my health, for my healthy weight, no matter what I did. I would always lose a lot of weight, and then I would stay. No matter what I did, I couldn’t go lower than that one number.”
Williams also mentioned that she had health issues tied to her weight, which was also a motivating factor in her weight loss.
“I was at risk for heart disease, and I didn’t even know that,” Williams said. “That’s kind of scary, and that’s the No. 1 thing that kills Americans. So I could have been a statistic.”
Therefore, Williams turned to a GLP-1 drug to help ignite losing weight. While there are several of those drugs on the market, Williams turned to Ro, a drug for which she is also a spokeswoman.
@serenawilliams is on Ro! There are few people in the world with more willpower than Serena. She trained hard after having kids but her body didn’t respond the same way. She turned to Ro to reach her goals. https://t.co/WzIQy6WPaw
— Ro (@ro) August 21, 2025
“Sometimes, no matter what you do, no matter how many steps you take, how many miles you run, you just can’t get over that hump. I know that for a fact,” she said. “As a woman, as I age, I definitely couldn’t get over that hump.”
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How much weight did Serena Williams lose?
Last August, Williams told PEOPLE.com that she lost 31 pounds while on the GLP-1.
“I feel great,” she said. “I feel really good and healthy. I feel light physically and light mentally.”
As a result of her weight loss, Williams said she feels she is moving around much more free and easily.
“I just can do more. I’m more active. 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,” she said. “I feel like I have a lot of energy and it’s great. I just feel pretty good about it.”
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Serena Williams before and after weight loss
Williams’s weight loss journey began after she gave birth to her second child, Adira, in 2023. Williams posted a picture saying in Instagram saying “right now I love that my body is not picture perfect.”
Since then, Williams has been very public about her wight loss as she says she feels more spry and healthier than when she was playing professionally.
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