Serena Williams shared a series of photos to her Instagram account this week that showed her posing outdoors in an olive green one-piece swimsuit, paired with a pink fuzzy jacket and UGG boots. The post drew an immediate and divided response from her audience of more than 18 million followers.
In the caption, Williams wrote that she is not perfect but is perfectly herself, and encouraged her followers to take time to celebrate who they are. The images, taken in natural light, show her smiling and moving around her backyard, her slimmer frame visible throughout.
The response from fans
The post generated thousands of likes and comments, with reactions falling on opposite ends of the spectrum. Many followers praised Williams for her confidence and her appearance, responding with admiration for how she looks and carries herself.
Others pushed back in ways that reflected a longer-running debate about her body transformation. Some fans expressed that Williams had represented a particular image of athletic strength throughout her career and that her more recent choices felt at odds with that legacy. Several commenters specifically referenced her use of a weight loss medication as the source of their concern, with some describing it as alarming or at odds with the athlete they had long admired.
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What Williams has said about her transformation
Williams first publicly addressed her weight loss in an interview with People magazine in August 2025, explaining that she had struggled to lose pregnancy weight after having her two daughters despite working out consistently, maintaining a strict diet, and incorporating cryotherapy into her routine. She described it as a frustrating experience given that she had spent her entire professional career achieving results through hard work and discipline.
She disclosed that she had begun taking Zepbound, a GLP-1 medication similar to others in the same class that have become widely discussed for weight management. Williams said she continued to exercise and eat well while using the medication and that the drug helped her reach a goal she had been unable to reach on her own.
Williams expanded her involvement with the medication by appearing in a Super Bowl commercial earlier this year, a decision that drew a second wave of public commentary and extended the conversation about her transformation beyond social media.
Williams has not wavered
Despite sustained criticism from some corners of her fan base, Williams has been consistent in her response. In a brief exchange with reporters in New York City in 2025, she summed up her position simply, noting that looking good and feeling good tend to go together and that she thought everyone around her looked great.
The latest Instagram post fits that pattern. She has not addressed the criticism in detail in recent months and has continued to share images from her personal life, family moments, and style choices across her social media accounts.
Williams retired from professional tennis in 2022 and holds 23 Grand Slam singles titles, a record in the Open Era. She and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have two daughters together.
