Serena Williams Announces Retirement: ‘I’m Evolving Away From Tennis’

Martin Holmes August 9, 2022, 10:01 am

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Serena Williams at Wimbledon — Karwai Tang/WireImage

The 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion Serena Williams is looking ahead to her retirement, announcing that she will be moving away from tennis after participating in the U.S. Open later this summer.

Writing for Vogue magazine, Williams, who is one of the most iconic athletes in sporting history, revealed that she will be soon stepping away from the tennis court to focus on her family and other business ventures. However, she was careful not to use the word “retirement,” stating that she “never liked the word.”

“It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me,” Williams 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.”

In an accompanying Instagram post, where Williams shared her Vogue cover photo, she wrote, “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. I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals and finally discovering a different, but just exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.”

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Williams went on to talk about her hopes of expanding her family. In 2017, the tennis champ gave birth to her daughter Olympia with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. “A lot of people don’t realize that I was two months pregnant when I won the Australian Open in 2017,” Williams wrote, “But I’m turning 41 this month, and something’s got to give.”