United Kingdom, Dec. 1 -- 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...