Serena Williams wants her daughter to know it's "OK to make the first move" when it comes to seizing opportunities in life.
The
tennis star, who welcomed Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. with husband
Alexis Ohanian a year and a half ago, made her comments to
Robin Roberts on
Good Morning America on Thursday.
When asked what she wants to teach her daughter about being a strong woman, Williams said, "Embrace it."
Williams appeared on the show to promote her partnership with Bumble; the tennis star is a global ambassador for the dating app, where women make first contact with matched users.
"I want to teach her that it's OK to make the first move," Williams said about her daughter. "It's OK to ask and to say, 'Listen, I want a chance at being in this play. Like put me in. Or just give me this first opportunity.' There's so many different ways to showcase that."
Williams began her professional tennis career at 1995 at age 14, despite being told she was too young.
"I literally made the first move," she said on Good Morning America. "My dad said I was too young and I was so small and I wasn't ready but I knew I was ready and I made that first move and I want my daughter to be able to do the same thing. We're taught as a society that we have to wait and be second but that's not true, we can be first. I love being first. I only like being first."