Tennis champ Serena Williams slammed another tennis great, Ilie Nastase. The latter apparently joked about William's unborn baby during a news conference Friday and the expectant mother shot back at him on social media.
Nastase, a tennis sensation in the '70s and the Romania Fed Cup team's current coach, remarked about the skin color of Williams' baby, whose father is Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, a Caucasian. Nastase allegedly said, "Let's see what color it has. Chocolate with milk?" as per Jezebel.
Williams addressed Nastase through a post on Instagram last Monday. "It disappoints me to know we live in a society where people like Ilie Nastase can make such racist comments towards myself and [my] unborn child," the 23-time champion wrote, adding she's "not afraid to unlike" the coach.
The International Tennis Federation announced it was investigating Nastase for his joke. "We are aware of alleged comments made by Romanian captain Ilie Nastase and have begun an immediate investigation so that we have the full facts of the situation before taking further and appropriate action," ITF stated in a press release, as per Huffington Post.
ITF inducted Nastase to the Hall of Fame in 1991. Learning about the investigation, Nastase insisted he did not say anything offensive and he's friends with Williams, ABC News Australia reported.
Meanwhile, before firing back at Nastase, Williams also posted a love letter to her unborn on Instagram. "I am so happy to share being number one in the world with you.... once again today," the eager mom captioned her new selfie to show the baby bump.
A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Apr 24, 2017 at 6:06am PDT
Williams' expected due date is in September. She and Ohanian announced their engagement in December last year.
The tennis champ also announced she's taking it slow for the rest of 2017 due to her pregnancy and the baby's arrival. She, however, will return to tennis to defend her Grand Slam title in 2018.
