PARIS — US tennis great
Serena Williams announced on
Tuesday that “the countdown has begun” to her retirement from the sport.
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Williams, 40, won the last of her 23 Slams at the
2017 Australian Open when she was already pregnant with her daughter, Olympia.
However, she has failed to add a 24th major which
would take her level with Margaret Court’s all-time record.
Her final attempt will come at the US Open in New
York later this month.
“There comes a time in life when we have to decide
to move in a different direction,” she said on Instagram.
“That time is always hard when you love something so
much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun.”
“I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals,
and finally discovering a different, but just as exciting Serena. I’m gonna
relish these next few weeks.”
Williams stepped onto a hardcourt for the first time
in a year and a half on Monday in the WTA Toronto tournament where she reached
the second round with a straight sets victory over Spaniard Nuria Parrizas
Diaz.
It was her first singles victory since the 2021
French Open, 14 months ago.
The former world number one had played her first
singles match in a year following a lengthy injury layoff during a first-round
defeat at Wimbledon in June.
Earlier on Tuesday, Williams wrote in the September
edition of Vogue magazine where she featured on the cover that she was
“evolving away” from the sport after the US Open.
“Unfortunately I wasn’t ready to win Wimbledon this
year,” she said in the publication.
“And I don’t know if I will be ready to win New
York. But I’m going to try. And the lead-up tournaments will be fun. I know
there’s a fan fantasy that I might have tied Margaret that day in London, then
maybe beat her record in New York, and then at the trophy ceremony say, ‘See
ya!’ I get that. It’s a good fantasy.”
“But I’m not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court
moment. I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst.”
‘Evolving away from tennis’
Williams won her first Grand Slam title at the 1999 US Open, when she was
17.
She has won the
Wimbledon and Australian Open singles title seven times each, along with six US
Open trophies and three French Open successes.
“I have never
liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me,” she said.
“I’ve been
thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use
that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of
people. Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution.”
“I’m here to tell
you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important
to me.”
“A few years ago I
quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. Soon after that, I
started a family. I want to grow that family.
“But I’ve been
reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing
tennis. Alexis, my husband, and I have hardly talked about it; it’s like a
taboo topic.”
“In the last year, Alexis
and I have been trying to have another child, and we recently got some
information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that
whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family. I definitely don’t want to be
pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet
out.”
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