Serena Williams discusses leaking news of pregnancy, return to tennis

ByABC News
April 26, 2017, 8:16 AM

— -- Serena Williams says she was taking a personal photo of her progressing pregnancy on Snapchat when she accidentally pressed the wrong button and made the post public.

The photo of the tennis superstar in a one-piece bathing suit was captioned "20 weeks." Despite the lack of information, it immediately made headlines around the world, and her publicist later confirmed the pregnancy.

"I was on vacation, taking time for myself, and I have this thing where I've been checking my status and taking a picture every week," Williams told Gayle King at the TED2017 Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday night. "I've been just saving it, but you know how social media is -- you press the wrong button and ...

"My phone doesn't ring that much, and 30 minutes later, I'd missed four calls. So I picked it up and realized, 'Oh no.'"

Williams said the mishap wasn't a big deal because she planned to share the news shortly.

After learning she was pregnant two weeks before the Australian Open, Williams said she was nervous about playing in the tournament in which she won her record-setting 23rd Grand Slam.

"I wasn't sure what to do. Can I play?" Williams said. "I know it's very dangerous in the first 12 weeks or so, so I had a lot of questions."

Williams said she plans to return to the court after having the child, saying "My baby is going to be in the stands, hopefully cheering for me and not crying too much."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.