Serena Williams told her 12 million followers on Instagram that the coronavirus pandemic and her self-isolation for the last two weeks has given her anxiety, made her feel crazy, and gotten her angry.
The 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion began the year on the women's tennis tour, winning the 2020 ASB classic, before finding out that the WTA tour had been postponed because of the travel restrictions and health concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19.
In an Instagram video on Thursday, Williams talked about the range of emotions she has been feeling in recent weeks, which began with her thinking that the virus would not even impact her life, to feeling frustrated with her two-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. because the toddler coughed.
"I wanted to take a minute and talk about my experience with corona," Williams said.
"It started out with me feeling like, 'Oh, it can't really affect me.' Then suddenly [the] Indian Wells [tournament] was canceled and I was like, 'Oh, okay … that's weird, but I have a little time off and I'll enjoy that time off.'
"That one cancelation led to another and led to another and then led to all this anxiety that I'm feeling. Now I've been social distancing for actually a really long time — two weeks now. But every little thing makes me really crazy.
"And by anxiety I mean I'm just like I'm on edge anytime anyone sneezes around me or coughs … I get crazy.
"And I don't hang out with anyone so when I say anyone I mean my daughter. She coughed and I got angry. I gave her a side-eye. I gave her that angry Serena.
"And then I got sad," Williams said. "I was like, 'Is she okay? Is there something wrong with my daughter. Is there anything I can do. And I just don't know what to do. So instead of being relaxed I'm really under a ton of stress.
"I never expected to relax but it is what it is. We get through this, we have to."
It is not the first social media video Williams has posted during her self-isolation.
Last week, the 38-year-old American said she would be spending six weeks in coronavirus solitude and that she would be passing the time by cooking, cleaning, and doing make-up tutorials.
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