Serena Williams has accused Ilie Nastase of making racist comments towards her and her unborn child.
Last week, the World number one announced she was expecting her first child with fiancee Alexis Ohanian. A co-founder of Reddit, Ohanian is the child of an American-Armenian father and a German mother.
Speaking at last week's Fed Cup match between Romania and Great Britain, Nastase was overheard openly speculating on the race of the child. "Let's see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?"
Williams has spoken publicly for the first time, since Nastase's comments were made, and she has called on the International Tennis Federation to consider he views when censuring the Romanian.
"Does my sassiness upset you. Why are you beset with gloom?", Williams asked Nastase, quoting a Maya Angelou poem. "You may shoot me with your words ... you may try to kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I rise."
"It disappoints me to know we live in a society in which people like Ilie Nastase can make such racist comments towards myself and unborn child, and sexist comments against my peers", Williams also admitted.
"I have said it once and I’ll say it again, this world has come so far but yet we have so much further to go. Yes, we have broken down so many barriers - however there are a plethora more to go."
A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on
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