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Serena Williams is pregnant and expecting to give birth to her first child later this year, which suggests she was in the early stages of her pregnancy when she won the Australian Open in January.
Williams, who has not played since her Australian Open win in January, citing a knee injury, plans to sit out the rest of the 2017 season and return to competition in 2018, her publicist Kelly Bush Novak said in a statement.
The confirmation of Williams' pregnancy came in a statement several hours after the 35-year-old posted a photo of herself on the social media site Snapchat with the caption "20 weeks".
Williams, who will return to the world number one ranking next week, deleted the photo shortly after it appeared and she waited more than six hours to make any public comment, stoking furious speculation about whether she was really expecting.
"I'm happy to confirm Serena is expecting a baby this fall," Bush Novak said in the statement.
If Williams is indeed 20 weeks into her term, that would mean she was approximately two months' pregnant when she captured her record 23rd major singles title at the Australian Open in January.
Her victory over older sister Venus Williams broke a tie with Steffi Graf for the most major singles championships in the sport's open era.
She has not played since the Australian Open, citing a knee injury.
Williams, the highest-paid female athlete in the world, announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian last December.
Celebrities and fans had reacted with a mixture of awe and glee to Williams' Snapchat post prior to the confirmation of her pregnancy.
"So Serena cheated," Trevor Noah, the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, wrote on his Twitter account.
"Because that's technically a doubles match."
The next major is the French Open, which starts in May. If Williams is 20 weeks pregnant and gives birth after a full term, she would have her child in early September during the fourth major, the US Open in New York.
Other women have left the tour to have children and returned at a high level, though none has done so at Williams' age.
Belgian player Kim Clijsters retired and had a child before coming back at age 26 and winning three majors titles as a mother.
Australians Evonne Goolagong and Margaret Court also won majors after having children.
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 27, missed most of the 2016 season to have a baby and is expected to return to the tour this year.
Williams is the oldest woman to win a major singles title and still dominates the tour at an age when most players have retired.
She has played professionally for two decades, first gaining the number one ranking in 2002 and has held that spot for more than six years in total during her career.
Reuters/ABC
Topics: tennis, sport, united-states