Serena Williams 'Cried' After Missing Daughter's First Steps

Watching a baby take his or her first steps is an emotional moment that no parent wants to miss, [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Watching a baby take his or her first steps is an emotional moment that no parent wants to miss, including Serena Williams.

The tennis legend admitted to crying because she missed 10-month-old daughter Alexis Olympia's first steps since she was training for Wimbledon.

"She took her first steps... I was training and missed it. I cried," Williams, 36, wrote on Twitter Saturday.

"I've spent a lot of summer weekends in London in my life but something feels different about this one," Williams wrote in another tweet, likely referring to England's win over Sweden in a World Cup match Saturday.

Williams is hoping to have her own reasons to celebrate soon as she competes for her eighth Wimbledon title and 24th overall Grand Slam. She beat Kristina Mladenovic of France on Friday in the third round and will play Evgeniya Rodina of Russia on Monday.

According to ESPN, Rodina and Williams are the only mothers left out of the six who entered the Wimbledon tournament.

"Serena is my idol," Rodina told reporters after she surprisingly beat American Madison Keys. "So it will be great to play against her."

Although Williams missed Alexis' first steps, she still gets to spend time with her little one between matches. Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, took Alexis to the U.K. for the tournament. Last week, the parents posted an adorable photo of Alexis at the All England Club on the Instagram page they set up for her.

"Hummm that looks yummy #wimbledon go Mommy!" the caption reads.

Williams also cried when she stopped breastfeeding, she said during a Sunday press conference at Wimbledon. Her original goal was to stop breastfeeding in January, but she continued.

"Then January became March. March became April, and I was still breastfeeding," Williams explained, via PEOPLE. "And for me, it was really important to make it to three months, and then it was important to make it to four months. And then I was like, 'Okay, I can do six months.'"

The first-time mother told reporters she never completely lost all the baby weight she hoped she would. The experience has taught her that all bodies are different.

"I was vegan, I didn't eat sugar … and I wasn't at the weight I would've been had I not [breastfed]," she explained. "What I've learned through the experience [is] every body is different, every person is different, every physical body is different. For my body, it didn't work, no matter how much I worked out, no matter how much I did."

Williams' match against Rondina starts at 8 a.m. ET Monday and can be seen on ESPN in the U.S.

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