United Kingdom, Feb. 14 -- Serena Williams has declared "loving yourself is essential" months after she had her second daughter.

The tennis icon, 42, gave birth to her girl Adira River Ohanian - who she had with her 40-year-old Reddit co-founder husband Alexis Ohanian - in August, and has now opened up about her feelings towards her body in a caption alongside an image of herself dressed in a bikini while holding the tot to her chest.

She said about the snap, shared on Instagram: "I find that I have to remind myself of that self-love through all different stages in my life.

"Right now I love that my body is not picture perfect. I love that I smell like milk - that milk sustains @adiraohanian I love getting to know a new version of my b...