Serena Williams uses humour to cope with "uncomfortable" moments in her life.

The 44-year-old former sports star retired from professional tennis in 2022, and Serena now feels free to embrace a different side to her personality.

The Olympic gold medal-winning star told NET-A-PORTER: "I am the most non-serious person I know. I'm the person that's always making the jokes. Dealing with the stuff that I've had to deal with, if I'm uncomfortable, I'll say something funny.

"In tennis you can't really be yourself, which sounds weird, but you have to keep a veil up. You can't be too vulnerable. In a way I need[ed] to be seen as this person that's always going to take my opponent out."

Serena loves that the public can now see a different side to her personality.

She said: "It's cool for [everyone] to see how we truly are when we're not chasing down tennis balls and winning championships."

Serena announced her retirement from tennis in 2022.

However, she previously confessed that retirement was a "taboo topic" in her house before she quit the sport.

She told Vogue magazine: "I've been reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing tennis.

"Alexis, my husband, and I have hardly talked about it; it's like a taboo topic. I can't even have this conversation with my mom and dad. It's like it's not real until you say it out loud.

"It comes up, I get an uncomfortable lump in my throat, and I start to cry. The only person I've really gone there with is my therapist! One thing I'm not going to do is sugarcoat this."

Serena admitted that, unlike some of her rivals, she never really wanted to retire from tennis.

She said: "I know that a lot of people are excited about and look forward to retiring, and I really wish I felt that way.

"Ashleigh Barty was number one in the world when she left the sport this March, and I believe she really felt ready to move on. Caroline Wozniacki, who is one of my best friends, felt a sense of relief when she retired in 2020."