‘Mama bear mode’- Serena Williams’ husband recalls how she cared for her daughter ahead of 2018 French Open

Women's tennis icon Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recently offered fans some insight into the time she went into a French Open match with merely 30 minutes of sleep after having cared for their daughter Olympia throughout the night before the fateful match.

He looked back at the time Olympia broke her arm after falling from a high chair, admitting that Serena was by her side every single minute of the night before going out onto the tennis court and emerging triumphant.

"I'll never forget Olympia breaking her little arm during RG. Yes, I had it handled, but Serena was in Mama Bear Mode and wouldn't leave her for a minute. Played (won) next day with little to no sleep and a mountain of anxiety," wrote Ohanian on Twitter.

Williams herself recently offered fans some insight into the incident while in conversation with Meghan Markle on a recent edition of her podcast, Archetypes. She revealed that her nine-month-old daughter had suffered a fall from a high chairthat resulted ina small tear, in addition to a break in her wrist while she was under her supervision.

Williams admitted that she felt extremely guilty after the accident had occurred. She had no choice but to rush her daughter to the hospital a night before her match, risking a good night's sleep. She also opened up about how she spent the entire night with Olympia in the same interaction with Markle.

"I remember holding her the whole night and just like rocking her to sleep and I just didn't let her out of my sight at that point because I was already and I'm hard on myself, and I'm a little bit of a perfectionist. But I was so mad at myself for even allowing that to happen. So I think I got like 30 minutes of sleep and then I had to go play this match. And I'm just thinking, how am I going to play?" Williams revealed.

She subsequently went on to win the match the next day with hardly any sleep. However, she admitted that the entire ordeal exacted a great emotional toll on her. The 2018 French Open marked Williams' first Grand Slam appearance after her daughter's birth back in September 2017.

Williams recently revealed that she will be bowing out of the sport in the aftermath of the upcoming US Open. She will hope to record a triumphant outing in the final Grand Slam of her career to further bolster the legacy that she has created over the course of her storied career.