Fresh off her championship win at Roland Garros, her second in 11 years, Serena Williams now plays the role of cover girl for Essence Magazine’s July 2013 “Love Your Body” issue.
Clad in a chic one-piece blue swimsuit, Serena exudes the same confidence that helped propel her to her 16th Grand Slam singles title while in Paris. The balance of strength and elegance portrayed in the cover photo is a spot-on representation of the Serena Williams that tennis fans know and love.
In her interview with Essence, Serena talks about how comfortable she is in her own skin at this stage in her career: “I feel lighter, I feel healthier, and even though I’m 31—which really isn’t old, but for an athlete, particularly a tennis player, it’s old—I promise you, my body has never felt better. Considering how much I’ve played and how much I’ve done, I feel fine. I’m strong…”