Saying the “countdown has begun”, 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams announced on Tuesday that she is ready to step away from tennis to focus on having another child and her business interests, foreshadowing the end of a career that transcended sports. .
In an essay published Tuesday by Vogue magazine and in an Instagram post (the kind of direct-to-fan communication favored by celebrities these days, a category she certainly fits), Williams wasn’t entirely clear on the timing of her final game. but he made it sound like that could be at the US Open, which starts on August 29 in New York.
“There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in another direction. That moment is always difficult when you love something so much. God, I like 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 still, Serena exciting I’m going to enjoy these next few weeks.”
Williams, one of the greatest and most accomplished athletes in the history of her sport — or any other — wrote in the essay that she doesn’t like the word “retirement” and prefers to think of this stage of her life as “evolving”. from tennis, to other things that are important to me.”
“I’m in so much pain. It’s the hardest thing I can ever imagine. I hate it. I hate having to be at this crossroads,” she wrote. “I keep telling myself: I wish it could be easy for me, but it’s not. I’m broken: I don’t want it to end, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s to come.”
That he was publicly contemplating the end of his playing days is not so surprising, given his age: his 10 Grand Slam titles after turning 30 are unsurpassed, his injury history and his recent record: a win in a singles game in the last 12 months (that win came in Toronto on Monday; he is scheduled to play again on Wednesday).
“Serena Williams is a generational, if not multigenerational, talent who had a profound impact on the game of tennis, but an even greater influence on women in sport, business and society. At a time when our nation and the world have wrestled with essential questions of identity, Serena has become a singular exemplar of the best in humanity after breaking countless barriers to her participation and ultimate success.” said US Open Tournament Director Stacey Allaster. “She leaves an indelible legacy of grace and courage that will inspire athletes, female and male, for many generations to come. We can’t thank him enough for all he has done for our sport.”
Williams’ status as an athlete and trailblazer is clear to all.
She was the first black woman since Althea Gibson in 1958 to win a Grand Slam title; Williams and her older sister Venus, a seven-time major singles champion, helped expand the sport’s audience and attract new players.
“I grew up watching her. I mean, that’s the reason I play tennis,” Coco Gauff, an 18-year-old African-American who was the runner-up at this year’s French Open, said Tuesday. “Since tennis is a predominantly white sport, it definitely helped a lot, because I saw someone who looked like me dominating the game. And it made me believe that I could dominate too.”
United States Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier said the organization would “operate under the assumption that this will be Serena Williams’ last US Open.”
It is the final Grand Slam event of the year and one he has won six times, most recently in 2014, along with seven titles each at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, plus three at the French Open, throughout a career notable for its peaks and longevity.
She also owns 14 Grand Slam doubles championships, all won with Venus, part of a remarkable story of two brothers from Compton, Calif., who rose to the top spot, won dozens of trophies and dominated the tennis during stretching. story told in the Oscar-winning film “King Richard.”
Venus, 42 and still competing, was the first of the family to break through, reaching her first Grand Slam final at the 1997 US Open. But it was Serena who soon surpassed her sister, winning the 1999 US Open at the age of 17 and then adding 22 more triumphs (Venus won seven major singles titles), eventually establishing herself as a one-of-a-kind superstar. , known for much more than her talent with a racket in hand.
The younger Williams was armed with a serve as effective as she’s ever been, powerful forehands and backhands, instincts and speed that allowed her to cover every inch of a court and switch from defense to attack in the blink of an eye, and an enviable will to win. This unwavering desire to be the best helped her become the best, and sometimes also got her into trouble with chair umpires during matches, most infamously during the 2018 US Open final who lost to Naomi Osaka, a woman more than a decade younger growing up. idolizing Williams, as many of today’s players have.
Wimbledon’s official Twitter feed posted this message Tuesday above a photo of Williams: “Some play the game. Others change it.”
“I don’t particularly like to think about my legacy. I get asked this a lot and I never know exactly what to say. But I’d like to think that because of the opportunities I’m given, female athletes feel like they can be themselves on the court,” Williams wrote. “They can play aggressively and pull their punches. They can be strong but beautiful. They can wear whatever they want and say whatever they want, kick their ass and be proud of it.”
The American has won more Grand Slam titles in the professional era than any other woman or man. Only one player, Margaret Court, collected more, 24, although the Australian won a share of hers in the amateur era.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that record. Obviously I do. But day-to-day, I’m not really thinking about her. If I’m in a Grand Slam final, then yes, I’m thinking about that record,” Williams said. “Maybe I thought too much about it, and that didn’t help. The way I see it, I should have had more than 30 Grand Slams.”
But Williams went on to write, “These days, if I have to choose between building my tennis resume and building my family, I choose the latter.”
She and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have a daughter, Olympia, who will be 5 on September 1st.
“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair,” said Williams, who was pregnant when she won the 2017 Australian Open for her last Grand Slam trophy. “If I was a boy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife did the physical work of expanding our family.”
Williams said she and Ohanian want to have a second baby, writing, “I definitely don’t want to get pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be both in and out of tennis.”
He was off the tour for about a year after being injured during his first-round match at Wimbledon in 2021. He returned to singles competition at the All England Club this June and lost in the first round.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready to win Wimbledon this year. And I don’t know if I’ll be ready to win New York,” Williams wrote in his essay. “But I’ll try.”
Williams hinted in the Vogue essay that the US Open would be her last tournament, but did not say so explicitly.
“I’m not looking for a ceremonial, final moment on the court,” Williams wrote. “I’m terrible at goodbyes, the worst in the world.”
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