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Serena Williams hid a secret heartache as she won Wimbledon last week, it has been revealed.

Her dad, Richard Williams, who coached her and her sister Venus to the top of their game, has had a stroke and has “debilitating memory issues,” his wife told a US website.

Lakeisha Williams, 37, Williams’ third wife said he was released from hospital last week.

“His condition is fair – he’s up and walking around but he’s not at 100 per cent,” she said

“He needs speech therapy, psychological therapy and physical therapy but for now he refused.

(Image: Getty)

“His mind is thinking that they’re going to put him back in ‘prison,’ which is what he calls the hospital.”

In fact Lakeisha, who marred Williams, 74, in 2010 and has a three-year-old son, Dylan, with him, believes her husband does not understand he has had a stroke.

(Image: Getty)

“His mind is telling him that since he was once in charge of his life, after what’s happened he’s not accepting it,” she explained.

“To him he’s a normal person – nothing happened to him.”

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She added: “We have to let nature take its course. I’ve been with him a long time so I know what he’s trying to say.

“It’s like training yourself for your child – like a baby, you have to think for them.”