Williams shows off her body and owns every inch of it

Serena Williams has never been someone who waits for permission to take up space. On Friday, the 23-time Grand Slam champion posted a series of photos to her Instagram account that made that point without much ambiguity. The images show Williams outdoors in an olive green one-piece swimsuit, posing with visible confidence and smiling directly into the camera. Her caption was brief and pointed. She wrote that while she is not perfect, she is perfectly herself, and she encouraged her followers to take a moment to celebrate who they are too.

The post reached an audience of more than 18 million followers and quickly drew widespread attention, not just for the images but for the message behind them.

Williams embraces who she is now

At 44, Williams is navigating a chapter of her life that looks nothing like the one that made her famous. She retired from professional tennis in 2022 after one of the most decorated careers the sport has ever seen. Since then, she has been open about the physical and emotional shifts that come with stepping away from elite competition, raising two daughters, and redefining what health and wellness mean outside of a training regimen built around Grand Slam performance.

The Friday post was not a workout announcement or a brand partnership. It was something simpler and, for many of her followers, more resonant. Williams was just sharing how she feels about herself right now, and the response suggested that kind of honesty lands differently than a curated fitness post.

The Zepbound disclosure and what followed

Williams has been candid about the tools she has used to manage her body since retiring. In August of last year, she revealed she had been taking Zepbound, a prescription weight loss medication that works similarly to widely discussed drugs like Ozempic. She explained that losing weight on her own had been difficult, particularly after having two children, and that she made the decision to use the medication as part of a broader approach to her health.

She was clear that the drug was not the whole picture. Williams described maintaining a consistent workout routine, incorporating cryotherapy into her recovery regimen, and following a healthy diet alongside the medication. The transformation that followed was visible, and it drew attention from the moment people began to notice.

Williams faces criticism over her transformation

Not all of that attention was positive. As Williams‘ physique changed, a segment of the public pushed back. Critics described her as appearing too thin, and many argued that the shift felt at odds with the powerful, athletic build that had defined her image for more than two decades. For a woman whose body had been scrutinized, celebrated, criticized, and politicized throughout her entire career, the renewed commentary carried a familiar weight.

Williams addressed that criticism directly in 2025 during a conversation with reporters in New York City. She made clear that outside opinions were not going to shape how she felt about herself or the choices she had made. Her posture on the subject was confident without being combative. She was not interested in debating her own reflection.

Why the message connects

There is a reason Williams’ Friday post traveled as far as it did. She is not a wellness influencer packaging self-acceptance as a product. She is one of the most scrutinized athletes in the history of professional sports, someone whose body has been the subject of public conversation since she was a teenager competing on the world stage.

When a person with that history posts a swimsuit photo and says she is perfectly herself, it does not read as performance. It reads as something earned.

Williams has spent decades being told what her body should look like, what it means, and what it says about her. Friday’s post suggested she has stopped listening to most of that noise, and she wanted her 18 million followers to consider doing the same.