File image of Serena Williams© AFP
Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, revealed on Wednesday she had a grapefruit-sized cyst removed from her neck and is doing well as she recovers. The 43-year-old former women's tennis world number one said in a Tik Tok video that she found a lump in May on the right side of her neck and an MRI showed she had a brachial cyst. "I am still recovering, but getting better. Health always comes first," Williams posted on X.
Williams did not have the cyst removed immediately but after it grew in size and she had multiple tests and a biopsy, she underwent surgery to remove it.
"I found this big mass on my neck. I was mortified by it," she said in the video. "I got tests done. Everything you could imagine. Everything was negative. Turns out I had what they call a cyst, a brachial cyst to be exact.
"So I ended up having to get it removed. It was so big. It was the size of a grapefruit and it kind of hurt coming out."
"They had to put a drain in it because it was so much but everything worked out and I feel really happy to have worked with some great doctors.
"A little scared here but excited to move on to the next steps of healing and getting well."
The end of her video showed Williams with daughter Olympia on a promised shopping trip after the operation.
"I'm feeling so grateful and fortunate everything worked out and most of all I'm healthy," Williams wrote in a caption to the video. "I still made it to American doll with Olympia as promised.
"And yes all is ok."
Williams won her first Grand Slam title at the 1999 US Open and her last at the 2017 Australian Open.
She captured seven Australian Opens, seven Wimbledons, six US Opens and three French Open titles before retiring after the 2022 US Open.