PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 25: Serena Williams attends The Prelude to The Paris Games 2024 on July 25, 2024 in Paris, France.
Serena Williams is recovering after having a benign branchial cyst removed from her neck.
The tennis legend said the lump presented itself back in May and she immediately went to the doctor to get an MRI, to which the doctors said the removal was optional.
Williams opted to forgo the operation, but after seeing the mass grow to the size of “a small grapefruit,” her medical team decided it was time to have it taken out in case it were to get “infected or leak” despite continued negative biopsies.
"So this is me removing it," Williams said on social media. "I am feeling so grateful, and fortunate everything worked out, and most of all I’m healthy.”
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion said she was still able to take her 7-year-old daughter, Olympia, to the American Girl Doll store, and “all is ok."
While the surgery was a success, Williams expressed disappointment about missing events such as Glamour Magazine’s “Woman of the Year” awards and tennis star Rafael Nadal’s retirement.
“Health always comes first,” Williams said.
Alexis Ohanian, Williams’ husband, was clearly in agreement, saying, “You’re such a fighter. And such a great mama."
Williams and Ohanian also have another daughter, Adira, who is 13 months old.
Since annoucing her retirement from tennis in 2022, Williams has been running her capital firm, Serena Ventures, which invests in technology companies led by women and people of color. She also launched her own makeup line, WYN Beauty.
