Game on!

Serena Williams is the guest editor of ESSENCE’s July 2013 “Body Issue,” gracing the cover in a fabulous ombre Carmen Marc Valvo swimsuit and Ben-Amun hoop earrings.

Inside, the three-time ESSENCE cover star and number one female pro tennis player in the world reveals how she returned to the top of her game after a debilitating fight against a pulmonary embolism two years ago. Her health struggle, captured in the recent documentary Venus and Serena, might have brought others to their knees, but not Williams, who describes turning to her spirituality and her sisters for support.

The triumphant athlete also talks to ESSENCE about all the attention her body receives — especially her famous derriere.

“It can be a bit weird,” she admits. “Before it was, ‘Serena has a big butt,’ and that was all. Now there are way more people who feel comfortable with themselves and they’re saying, ‘I’m a woman, and this is what I look like.’ I always say, ‘We’re popular now! We’re finally in style!'”

Read more: Essence