Tennis Player Serena Williams Is Pregnant

 

This is What’s Trending Today.

Earlier this year, many tennis fans were talking about the Australian Open finals. American tennis stars – and sisters – Serena and Venus Williams played each other in a so-called¹ Grand Slam² final for the first time since 2009.

Serena beat her older sister in two sets to win the Australian Open.

Little did we know, Williams was in her eighth week of pregnancy³ at the time.

This week, she posted a photo of herself wearing a yellow bathing suit on social media. On the photo she wrote “20 weeks.”

Fans immediately started talking and debating. Was Serena pregnant⁴?

A spokeswoman later confirmed Williams’ pregnancy. She also confirmed that she would not play in tennis competitions for the rest of the year. The spokeswoman said Williams expects to return to tennis in 2018, however.

The baby is due sometime in the fall. Williams is set to marry internet businessman Alexis Ohanian.

Williams has not played since her win at the Australian Open. She reportedly had an injured knee.

The younger Williams sister holds the most-ever Grand Slam singles titles. Her win in Australia moved her ahead of Germany’s Steffi Graf.

Many people could not believe Williams was able to win a major tournament while pregnant. Comedian⁵ Trevor Noah joked Williams had an unfair advantage in the match against Venus; she was actually playing “doubles” tennis while her sister was playing “singles.”

A doctor told the BBC that being pregnant might have helped Williams in some ways. Some of the changes women go through in the first few weeks of pregnancy actually help improve physical performance, the expert said.

However, one fan on social media said she could barely⁶ get out of bed at that point in her pregnancy.

Another person joked Williams’ fetus⁷ is already ranked 200th in the world in tennis.

In other tennis news, Russian Maria Sharapova starts her comeback next week after a 15-month suspension⁸. She had not been permitted to play after taking the illegal drug meldonium. She will return to competition at a tournament in Germany.

And that’s What’s Trending Today.

Words in This Story

fetus – n. a human being or animal in the later stages of development before it is born

title – n. the status or position of being the champion in a sport or other competition

advantage – n. something (such as a good position or condition) that helps to make someone or something better or more likely to succeed than others

comeback – n. a return to a former good position or condition

pregnancy – n. the condition of a woman or female animal that is going to have a baby or babies : the condition of a pregnant woman or female animal

1 so-called   

adj.所谓的，号称的

参考例句：

• These were the so-called mainframe machines.它们被称为主机。
• Let's see what this so-called button does.让我们来看看为什么这个按钮叫这个名字。

2 slam   

v.猛力地推、放或扔；砰地关上

参考例句：

• They were surprised by the slam of a car door.关汽车门时发出的声音使他们很吃惊。
• Why should you slam the window?你干吗要使劲关窗户呢？

3 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

4 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

5 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

6 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

7 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

8 suspension   

n.悬挂，悬浮液，暂缓，未决，中止

参考例句：

• The local authorities decided to build a suspension bridge over the river.地方当局决定在这条河上建一座吊桥。
• A four-day suspension was imposed on her.她被勒令停职4天。