Since she made the decision to “develop away” from tennis after the US Open, Serena Williams has hinted that she is about to call it quits.
In an essay for Vogue, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion from the United States stated that she is focusing on “other things that are essential to me” and that she dislikes the word “retirement.”
She stated, “the countdown has begun,” in a related Instagram post. Adding that, she would also enjoy the upcoming weeks at the same time. After a protracted injury absence that sparked rumors about her retirement, Williams made her singles comeback at Wimbledon in June.
The US Open, where she has won six of her major singles championships, will host a match later in August, according to her.
Williams remains the only female player to have won more major singles titles during the Open era and is second only to Margaret Court (24 major singles titles) in all-time wins.
She defeated Nuria Parrizas Diaz of Spain on Monday to earn a spot in the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto, which was her first singles victory in 14 months.
Williams claims in the lengthy essay that she has struggled with the idea of letting go of tennis, either to herself or to others. Her husband Alexis and she hardly ever discussed retirement, she said.
An illustrious tennis career for Serena Williams
Williams has won three Wimbledon tournaments with seven singles victories at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, six US Open medals, and three French Open crowns. She won the US Open in 1999 at the age of 17, her first major victory.
She won her final Slam championship at the Australian Open in 2017, when she was eight weeks pregnant with Olympia.
Her statement that the thought of quitting tennis brings “no happiness” is accurate.
After returning to the sport after maternity leave, Williams reached four major finals after nearly dying during childbirth with Olympia. But, unfortunately, she lost them all, leaving her only one short of Court’s record.
With packed stadiums and passionate followers throughout her career, Williams is one of the most recognizable athletes in the sport.
She and her older sister Venus are generally recognized for having altered the tennis landscape, motivated present players, and promoted gender equality.
In Williams’ words, expecting the best from myself and disproving people’s assumptions is the “essence of being Serena.”
Together with Venus, Williams won 14 Grand Slam doubles championships, two Slams for mixed doubles, and four Olympic gold medals in both the singles and doubles competitions.
In addition to her numerous successes, she has experienced a number of close calls that prevented her from adding to her big accomplishments, including heartbreaking losses at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2021.
At the US Open, she had a few contentious incidents, such as the 2018 final in New York when she accused umpire Carlos Ramos of being a thief.
Forbes has ranked Williams as the highest-paid female athlete of all time. Recently, Williams entered the business world by founding a venture capital firm.
In the National Women’s Soccer League, she is a member of a group that provided funding for a brand-new Los Angeles-based women’s squad.
