Serena Williams announces pregnancy on Met Gala red carpet

Serena Williams has confirmed she is pregnant with baby number two, telling reporters at the star-studded Met Gala in New York that there were “three of us” on the red carpet, where she arrived with husband Alexis Ohanian.

The 23-times major winner announced last year that she was “evolving away from tennis”, writing in a Vogue magazine article that she wanted to grow her family after welcoming daughter Olympia in 2017.

“Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the three of us to the Met Gala,” Williams said in a TikTok post on Monday evening.

Williams, a long-time friend of Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor-in-chief and Met Gala co-chair, is a frequent attendee of the annual event to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and on Monday donned a form-fitting black gown with a white skirt.

The theme of this year’s gala was “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”, in honour of the late Chanel designer.

Footage from the red carpet showed Ohanian, an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Reddit, gently resting his hand on the midsection of the 41-year-old Williams.

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian reveal they are expecting their second child together. #MetGala pic.twitter.com/0F8TNgaBla

The announcement made a return to competitive tennis appear highly unlikely for Williams, one of the most decorated athletes ever to pick up a racket.

Fellow tennis great Roger Federer, in a black tuxedo and dark tortoiseshell sunglasses, and former US Open champion Andy Roddick, in a similar black dinner suit but paired with formal slippers, were among a handful of high-profile athletes in attendance.

American basketball star Brittney Griner, who is back in the US after being detained for nearly 10 months in a Russian penal