Serena Williams arrives at the 54th NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 25, 2023, at the Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif. Williams has given birth to a baby girl, she posted Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, on Instagram, almost exactly a year after her last match as a tennis star. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Adira River Ohanian is the second child — and second daughter — for the 41-year-old Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Their first, Olympia, was born in 2017.
Williams, who won 23 Grand Slam singles titles during a career that transcended her sport, revealed at the Met Gala in May that she was pregnant.
When she told the world in August 2022 she was preparing to close her playing career, Williams cited a desire to grow her family as one of the main reasons for walking away from tennis.
“Believe me,” Williams wrote last year in an essay for Vogue magazine, “I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a guy I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family.”
The 2022 U.S. Open was her last tournament. She reached the third round in New York by beating second-seeded Anett Kontaveit before losing to Ajla Tomljanovic on Sept. 3.
March Nadness is officially underway, and betting on this year's tournament has the potential to reach record levels. About 45 million Americans are expected to wager a total of $3.1 billion on just the men's tournament alone, according to a new survey from the American Gaming Association. Prince Grimes, Senior Writer for USA Today's sports betting media property, BetFTW, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss how betting could play into this year's tournament and other storylines surrounding March Madness.
March Madness is finally here as everyone is looking for which team to bet on and which teams to fade. Sports betting expert Alex Glaze joins Cheddar Bets to tell you which Cinderella team you should bet on and which teams to avoid for the NCAA Tournament.
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Sean Green, Co-founder of the Sports Gambling Podcast Network, discusses which teams he's leaning towards and away from, who the breakout stars will be, and explains why UCLA, a No. 4 seed, will leave New Orleans with the title.
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BetMGM host Olivia Harlan Dekker gives her plays for some of the NCAA Tournament's biggest storylines, and explains why she is selling on both Coach K and - yes - Sister Jean.
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Erika Nardini, CEO of Barstool Sports, joined Cheddar News senior reporter, Michelle Castillo at South by Southwest to talk about Barstool Sportsbook and the NCAA March Madness tournaments. "What we really believe is that there's going to be the next generation of sports bettor, [who] will follow sports the way Barstool Sports follow sports," she said. "They'll like winners. They'll like losers. They'll like the storylines. They'll like the drama with the fans.”
Amy Purdy, the three-time Paralympic medalist and first double-leg amputee competitive snowboarder, made her debut as a commentator at this year's games, and she joined Cheddar News to recap the event. "I like to challenge myself because I was challenging myself as a Paralympic athlete myself," she said. "But then to be able to be a commentator and be able to, you know, support the game, support the athletes in a completely different way, it was a lot of fun."
College basketball forward for the HBCU Texas Southern University, Mimi O'Neal, daughter of Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, is pushing for more changes in light of gender equity scandals in NCAA college hoops brought to light on social media last year.
It's been an eventful past few weeks for the WNBA. One of the league's top players, Brittney Griner, remains in Russian custody after being detained at an airport last month. The league is also dealing with a scandal after fining a team for providing charter flights to their players. Emily Caron, sports business reporter for Sportico, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
