Serena Williams says ‘countdown has begun’ as she prepares to end tennis career
- The 23-time grand slam champion says she doesn’t like the word ‘retirement’, but she ‘evolving away’ from the sport to focus on business, having a second child
- The timeline for her last match is not completely clear, but it could happen at the US Open, which begins at the end of the month
Saying “the countdown has begun,” 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams announced on Tuesday she is ready to step away from tennis so she can turn her focus to having another child and her business interests, presaging the end of a career that transcended sports.
In an essay released Tuesday by Vogue magazine, and a post on Instagram – the sorts of direct-to-fans communication favoured these days by celebrities, a category she most definitely fits – Williams was not completely clear on the timeline for her last match, but it could happen at the US Open, which begins August 29 in New York.
“There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction. That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun,” Williams, who turns 41 next month, wrote on Instagram.
“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, one of the greatest and most accomplished athletes in the history of her – or any other – sport, wrote in the essay that she does not like the word “retirement” and prefers to think of this stage of her life as “evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me”.