Serena Williams reveals social distancing is causing her anxiety

‘ I don’t hang out with anyone, and when I say anyone I mean my daughter’

Serena Williams admits  that social distancing is causing her anxiety. Photograph: Abbie Parr/Getty Images
Serena Williams admits that social distancing is causing her anxiety. Photograph: Abbie Parr/Getty Images

Serena Williams has opened up about how difficult she is finding social distancing. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion revealed on Instagram more than a week ago that she planned to spend six weeks at home because of the coronavirus crisis.

And, in a post on TikTok, Williams explained she is struggling to deal with the anxiety that she is feeling.

The 38-year-old said: “I wanted to take a minute and talk about my experience with corona. It started out with me feeling like, ‘Oh it can’t really affect me’.

“And then suddenly Indian Wells was cancelled and I was like, ‘Oh, OK, that’s weird but I have a little time off and I’m going to enjoy that time off.

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“And then one cancellation led to another and then led to another and led to all this anxiety that I’m feeling.

“Now I’ve been social distancing for actually a really long time, for probably two weeks now, and every little thing makes me crazy.

“And by anxiety I mean I’m just on edge. Any time anyone sneezes around me or coughs I get crazy. I don’t hang out with anyone, and when I say anyone I mean my daughter.

“She coughed, I got angry and gave her a side-eye. I gave her that ‘angry Serena’ and then I got sad. “I was like, ‘Is she ok? Is there something wrong with my daughter? Is there anything I can do?’ I just don’t know what to do, so instead of being relaxed I’m really under a ton of stress.”