{"id":10958,"date":"2017-04-20T00:24:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T00:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/04\/20\/serena-williams-is-pregnant-due-in-the-fall\/"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:24:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T00:24:00","slug":"serena-williams-is-pregnant-due-in-the-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/serena-williams-is-pregnant-due-in-the-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams Is Pregnant, Due In The Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Richard Gonzales<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Serena Williams holds her trophy after defeating her sister Venus during the women’s singles final at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia in January.<\/p>\n

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Dita Alangkara\/AP<\/p>\n

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Dita Alangkara\/AP<\/p>\n

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Tennis star Serena Williams, the highest paid female athlete in the world<\/a>, is expecting her first child sometime this fall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speculation about her pregnancy began earlier Wednesday when Williams posted a picture of herself on Snapchat. She was wearing a one-piece bathing suit with a caption reading “20 weeks.” The photo was later deleted.<\/p>\n

Williams’ spokeswoman, Kelly Bush Novak, ended any doubts in an email to the Associated Press<\/a>. “I’m happy to confirm Serena is expecting a baby this Fall.”<\/p>\n

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Last month the 35-year-old Williams pulled out of California’s BNP Paribas Open due to a knee injury. She last played in late January, winning the Australian Open by beating her sister Venus Williams and capturing her 23rd<\/sup> Grand Slam title. She was likely two months pregnant at the time.<\/p>\n

Williams is engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.<\/p>\n

Her sponsorship deals rake in about $20 million and business analysts say her impending motherhood would likely enhance her popularity<\/a> among corporate sponsors.<\/p>\n