Serena Williams has announced her retirement from professional tennis. Williams said there comes a time in life to choose a different direction.
An incredible 27 years on the tour, an incredible 23 Grand Slam victories – but now it’s almost over and Serena Williams is in tears. “I refused to admit that I had to stop playing tennis. It’s such a taboo subject”the 40-year-old wrote in an op-ed for Vogue magazine, “It comes up and I start to cry.”
Williams, one of the greatest players in tennis history, has been torn apart for weeks. Most recently she was only able to talk to her therapist about it, now her resignation is imminent. There are many indications that the US Open (from August 29) in New York will be her last major appearance.
Not “retirement” but “evolution”
“I’ve never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me”Williams said: “Perhaps the word evolution describes it best for me.” you will yourself “develop away from tennis and towards other things”who are important to her. Family comes first from now on, a sibling for daughter Alexis Olympia is planned: “As an athlete, I definitely don’t want to get pregnant again. I play tennis all the time or not at all.”
The sports world will soon lose a real attraction. Only one title is missing from the exceptionally athletic appearance of Margaret Court’s all-time record, which has won 24 majors. A brand that the younger of the Williams sisters would have been only too happy to crack. “I would be lying if I said I don’t want that record,” Williams wrote. “Of course I do. But I really don’t think about her on a day-to-day basis.”
Enormously active with “Serena Ventures”.
Your everyday life will change significantly in the foreseeable future. Off the tennis court, where she raked in nearly $100 million in prize money plus ad revenue. Towards more office time, because in addition to her family business, she has long been extremely active as an investor with her “Serena Ventures”.
There will be few opportunities for her fans to experience the brute force and precision of Williams. Her appearances had become rare in recent years, and on Monday the top player, who had fallen out of the world rankings, won her first match in Toronto in 14 months. It wasn’t until the end of June in Wimbledon that Williams made her comeback after a year’s break, but lost dramatically in the first round.
Final act at the US Open
She has also accepted a wild card for the upcoming Masters in Cincinnati – before the last curtain falls in New York, on the world’s largest tennis stage. “I will miss this version of me”wrote Williams, “the girl who played tennis.”