Serena Williams has announced she is expecting her first child with fiance Alexis Ohanian, hinting at her news in a Snapchat message with the caption "20 weeks".
The timing indicates Williams, 35, was about two months pregnant when she won her seventh Australian Open Grand Slam title in Melbourne at the end of January, "further adding to her reputation as one of the greatest athletes of all time," says CNN.
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Williams is set to marry Reddit founder Ohanian later this year. The pair announced their engagement in December following a low-profile courtship which took many fans by surprise.
Current world number one Angelique Kerber, who is due to relinquish the top spot to Williams in Monday's Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking reshuffle, offered hearty congratulations to her on-court rival.
If Williams does decide to seek another Grand Slam title following the birth of her first child, she will likely do so at the 2018 French Open, says the BBC's Russell Fuller.
As a "useful guide", he notes, former world number one Victoria Azarenka gave birth in December last year but was back training by March and will compete in major tournaments at the end of July.
Williams holds 23 Grand Slam singles titles and has been ranked world number one on seven occasions.