Serena Williams is giving tennis one last hurrah before hanging up her racket for good.
With 23 Grand Slam titles and 192 career wins, Williams, who turns 41 next month, announced that she’s stepping away from the game following next month’s U.S. Open.
“I have never liked the word retirement,” she penned in the September 2022 issue of Vogue magazine. “It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. 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,” Williams wrote. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis toward other things that are important to me.”
The tennis legend, who turned pro in 1995 at the age of 14, said it’s time for her to focus on family.
“This morning, my daughter, Olympia, who turns five this month, and I were on our way to get her a new passport before a trip to Europe. We’re in my car, and she’s holding my phone, using an interactive educational app she likes,” Williams penned in the September 2022 issue of Vogue magazine.
“This robot voice asks her a question: What do you want to be when you grow up? She doesn’t know I’m listening, but I can hear the answer she whispers into the phone. She says, “I want to be a big sister.”
The U.S. Open, which begins in New York on Aug. 29, will be Williams’ last tournament.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready to win Wimbledon this year. And I don’t know if I will be ready to win New York,” Williams stated, directing her message to her fans. “But I’m going to try. And the lead-up tournaments will be fun.
“I’m not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court moment,” she wrote. “I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst. But please know that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words. You have carried me to so many wins and so many trophies. I’m going to miss that version of me, that girl who played tennis. And I’m going to miss you.”
