Serena Williams is grieving the loss of her "toughest little pup" Lauerlei after 18 years spent together. The seven-time Wimbledon champion shared the sad news of her canine companion's death with her 15.2 million followers on Instagram.
The heartbroken 40-year-old revealed dog Lauerlei had taken "her last breath" on Friday and will be missed "so much" but remembered forever. Alongside the touching message, Williams posted a series of sweet snaps of the old pooch through the years, marking it "the end of an era".
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Her touching tribute read: "Lauerlei sadly took her last breath yesterday. I am sad but happy for all the time and all the extra I got to spend with her.
"She lived a long long life. The last year and a half was a bonus. She got to get anything she ever wanted and she was biting toes till the end. Literally.
"She LOVED chicken and acrobatics. She was the smallest yet toughest little pup and I will miss her… so much. Truly the end of an era."
The tennis legend concluded her post with the pup's full name: "Lauerlei Linkogle Williams May 2004 - Aug 27, 2022."
Family, friends and fans flooded Williams' comments section with love hearts, condolences and fellow memories of their late dogs.
Singer Kelly Rolland wrote: "Awwwww such special, funny moments with this sassy girl! Joshes got her Big Sis by her side!! Cause we miss her too!"
In addition to Lauerlei, Williams owns a Jack Russell named Jackie, after Mariah Carey's dog, and a Yorkshire terrier named Christopher "Chip" Rafael Nadal, after her fellow tennis player and friend.
Unlike Lauerlei who rarely made online appearances, Chip has his own Instagram account with more than 13,000 followers.
On Saturday, in the wake of Lauerlei's death, Chip accompanied Williams to the U.S. Open during one of her training sessions.
It comes after Williams featured on Meghan Markle's new Spotify podcast, Archetypes, speaking about motherhood struggles, ambitious women and double standards in the spotlight.
The tennis superstar confessed Prince Harry actually helped her with her decision to retire from the sport long before it was publicly announced.
Meghan then told Serena: "I think, you know, I think both of us, or the three of us, really know that sometimes the right decision isn't the easiest decision. It takes a lot of courage, I think, too, to stop something in many ways than to keep going sometimes."
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