Coming back from pregnancy harder than I thought, says Serena Williams

Seeking a 23rd Grand Slam title and her first since the 2017 Australian Open, Serena Williams said the greatest improvement she'd made since her return to competition in March was fitness

New York: Serena Williams booked her spot in the US Open quarter-finals on Sunday, and said the biggest challenge of her post-pregnancy comeback was regaining fitness.

"Coming back from a baby is really hard, harder than I thought," said Williams — drawing a cheer from the crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium who had watched her 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Estonian Kaia Kanepi. Her victory came a day after daughter Olympia turned one.

Seeking a 23rd Grand Slam title — and her first since the 2017 Australian Open — Williams said the greatest improvement she'd made since her return to competition in March was fitness.

"That was the most important thing for me to improve, was to be fit and be able to stay and play long matches," she said. Williams was already pregnant when she won her most recent Grand Slam title, at the 2017 Australian Open. She said she believes new mothers should be more prepared for the fact that it can take time to recover from childbirth. "I think society puts it out there that you'll just kind of snap back and that's just a myth," she said.

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