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Serena Williams set to welcome a new family member

One of the superstar tennis players in the World, Serena Williams has confirmed on Wednesday that she is pregnant and expecting her first child later this year.

The announcement was the latest surprise from Williams, who unexpectedly announced her engagement to Alexis Ohanian, a businessman and the co-founder of Reddit, in December.

Chris Evert, the former No. 1, said she communicated with Williams via text on Wednesday. “Getting married and having a child is a special journey,” Evert said. “She, to me, is more than ready for this lifestyle change. It’s been 20 years on tour.”

Williams posted a photo of herself standing sideways with the caption “20 weeks” on Snapchat earlier Wednesday, though Williams deleted the photo shortly after it appeared and waited more than six hours to make any public comment, stoking debate among tennis fans about whether or not she was joking.

Williams’ 23 Grand Slam singles titles are a record for the Open era, which began in 1968. She broke a tie with Steffi Graf after winning the Australian Open. Only one woman has won more: Margaret Smith Court, who claimed some of her 24 titles during the amateur era.

She has played little outside the Grand Slam tournaments in the last 12 months — at the Italian Open in Rome and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro last season and at the tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, in early January.

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