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Serena Williams announces her retirement from tennis

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  • Serena Williams said she  is planning to retire from tennis after playing at this year’s US Open.
  • Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam champion.
  • “Now the countdown has begun,” said the athlete.

Sad news for the world of tennis and sports. Serena Williams said that «the countdown has begun» and that she is ready to leave tennis after winning 23 Grand Slams, to focus on having another child and dedicating herself to her business, The Associated Press reported.

In a cover story for Vogue magazine, and on Instagram, Williams did not say exactly when she will retire. However, the possibility that she will do so after the US Open begins on August 29 in New York has been simmering.

Serena Williams announces her retirement from tennis

SERENA WILLIAMS
Photo: AP

“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,» said Serena Williams on Instagram. “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,” she added.

“I turn 41 this month and some things need to be put aside,” Serena Williams wrote. She added that she does not like the word retirement and that she prefers to think that she is in a stage of her life in which she is «taking distance from tennis to dedicate myself to other things that are important to me.»

«It’s harder than I ever imagined»

ATHLETE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Photo: AP

«I feel a great deal of pain. It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate it. I hate that I have to be at this crossroads,” she lamented, alluding to her retirement. “I keep saying to myself, I wish it could be easy for me, but it’s not. I’m torn: I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next.»

Williams is participating in a tournament in Toronto  in preparation for the US Open, the last major tournament of the year. She has won more Grand Slam tournaments than any other professional player. Margaret Court won 24, but several of them as an amateur.

Serena Williams is moving on

TENNIS
Photo: AP

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that record. Obviously I do. But day to day, I’m really not thinking about her. If I’m in a Grand Slam final, then yes, I am thinking about that record,” she stated. “Maybe I thought about it too much, and that didn’t help. The way I see it, I should have had 30-plus Grand Slams, «said Serena Williams.

She added that, despite this, «These days, if I have to choose between building my tennis resume and building my family, I choose the latter.» Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have a daughter, Olympia, who turns five on September 1.

Serena Williams reveals when she will retire

SERENA WILLIAMS

Photo: AP

“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair,” said the tennis player, who was pregnant when she won the 2017 Australian Open, her last Grand Slam. «If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family.» Williams was away from tennis for a year after being injured in the first round of Wimbledon in 2021. She returned to competition at Wimbledon itself this June and lost in the first round.

After that loss, she was asked if she would compete again. «That’s something I can’t answer,» said Williams, who won her first-round match in Toronto on Monday. «I do not know. Who knows what I’ll do?» Serena Williams hints in her Vogue article that the US Open will be her last tournament, but she doesn’t say so explicitly. «I’m not looking for a ceremonial farewell, on the field,» she assured. «I’m very bad with goodbyes, the worst in the world.»

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