Serena Williams stole the show at the premiere of Gucci's short film, The Tiger, in Milan on Tuesday. The tennis legend looked ethereal in a black gown with long sleeves and feathers trimming her shoulders, wrists and hemline. The dress was slightly sheer, showcasing the Gucci monogram print. She wore her blonde tresses up in an elegant bun, with face-framing pieces of hair falling down past her shoulders. Serena turned heads in the look, which showcased her lithe, athletic figure.
The mother of two has been on a weight loss journey in recent years, following the birth of her second child, Adira, in August 2023. Serena struggled to lose the baby weight, prompting her pivot to GLP-1 medication to help her shed the pounds. Serena has since lost a whopping 31 pounds and appears more confident than ever.
She took to Instagram to share snaps from her sojourn to Milan, simply captioning the carousel of photos: "Only playing the cards I was dealt @gucci." Friends and fans alike rushed to the comment section to exclaim over her new look, with Olympian Simone Biles writing, "Damn ma!!!!" while Khloé Kardashian added, "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh cuuuuuute queen."
Another fan chimed in, "You are serving face body and elegance, Oh my good god," while a fourth said, "Absolutely beautiful." Serena has been candid about her weight loss journey, which led her to the GLP-1 medication Ro. GLP-1s like Ro, Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro work to suppress appetite, and are often administered via injection to those living with diabetes.
After months of working hard to lose the baby weight to no avail, the Grand Slam star decided to start taking Ro. "I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be, no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained," she told People. "It was crazy, because I'd never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard, ate so healthy, and could never get down to where I needed to be at."
Serena is no stranger to working hard; she has won 23 Grand Slams throughout her 27-year career and is widely considered to be one of the greatest athletes of all time. "I had never taken shortcuts in my career and always worked really hard. I know what it takes to be the best," she added.
"So it was very frustrating to do all the same things and never be able to change that number on the scale or the way my body looked." The star was walking 30,000 steps a day and still seeing no change; at one point, even her coach asked her to lose weight. Serena told Women's Health that she was living proof that sometimes diet and exercise just aren't enough.
"I am a very good use case of how you can do everything – eat healthy, work out to the point of even playing a professional sport and getting to the finals of Wimbledon and U.S. Opens – and still not be able to lose weight," she said. "[Ro is] not a shortcut. It's not a copout. This is just another tool to support my health journey."
"I would never take a shortcut to living a healthy life," Serena explained. "It's really about using the tools available to you to support your health. That's why it's so important to be transparent with my story."