Tennis icon Serena Williams, 43, announced on Sunday that she is doing great following surgery on her neck to remove a large cyst. In a video on TikTok, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion said that she detected a lump on the right side of her neck in May, which later was diagnosed to be a brachial cyst.
“I found this big mass on my neck. I was mortified by it,” Williams said. She underwent a series of tests followed by a biopsy. The doctors concluded that the cyst had to be removed, as it continued to grow. Surgery successfully removed the cyst, which Williams described as the size of a grapefruit.
“They had to put a drain in because it was so large, but everything worked out,” Williams said. Though nervous, she was thankful for her medical team and hopeful about her recovery.
Williams was also able to fulfill a promise to her daughter Olympia-taking her on a post-surgery shopping outing. “I’m feeling so thankful and lucky everything worked out,” Williams posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Most of all, I’m healthy.”
She still holds 23 Grand Slam titles, her first at the 1999 US Open, her last at the 2017 Australian Open. The tennis icon, post-2022 US Open, retired.