Serena Williams has had a benign branchial cyst “the size of a small grapefruit” removed from her neck and says “all is OK”.

The retired tennis star, who turned 43 last month, posted on social media that she found a lump on her neck in May.

Williams said she had an MRI exam and was told she did not need to get the cyst removed if she did not want to.

“So I did not get it [removed] but it kept growing,” she wrote.

After more tests – including a biopsy that was negative for cancer, Williams said – her doctors advised she should have a procedure.

She posted a video of herself in a hospital bed and wrote: “So this is me removing it. I am feeling so grateful, and fortunate everything worked out, and most of all I’m healthy.”

In a separate social media post, she said she is “still recovering, but getting better. Health always comes first.”

Williams announced her retirement – famously eschewing that term and saying instead she was “evolving” away from professional tennis – shortly before playing in the 2022 US Open, her last tournament.

She won 23 Grand Slam titles in singles, the most by a woman in the sport’s professional era, and another 14 in doubles with her older sister Venus.

Serena Williams spent more than 300 weeks at No 1 in the WTA rankings and collected four Olympic gold medals.

What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis in October?

• Almaty Open, Kazakhstan – ATP 250 (October 14-20 – Dan Evans in action)
• Stockholm Open, Sweden – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
• European Open, Antwerp – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
• Japan Open, Osaka – WTA 250 (October 14-20 – Harriet Dart in action)
• Ningbo Open, China – WTA 500 (October 14-20 – Katie Boulter in action)
• Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
• Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
• Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (October 21-27)
• Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (October 21-27)

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.