Serena Williams Announces Retirement From Tennis

Tennis legend Serena Williams announced Tuesday that she will retire from tennis to focus on her family. The 23-time Grand Slam champion is expected to begin her retirement from the sport she dominated since winning her first U.S. Open in 1999, this year and t could be as soon as this month.

Williams, who began her retirement announcement by stating her focus will shift to her business interests and family, added that “the countdown has begun.” 

The essay, which Serena Williams penned in Vogue magazine on Tuesday and on Instagram, was vague on when she expects to play her final match but suggested it may come at the U.S. Open this August.

“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 (as) exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.”

Williams, who is arguably one of most accomplished and greatest players in the sports history, stated in her essay that the word “retirement” was one she does not like and that she prefers to look at this point of life as one “evolving away from tennis.”

“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 wrote. “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.”

Serena, who is playing at the National Bank Open in Toronto this week, a tournament that is a precursor to the U.S. Open and the last Grand Slam of the year, has won the event six times. In addition to winning the U.S. Open six times, Williams has amassed three titles at the French Open, seven titles at the Australian Open, and seven at Wimbledon.

She also has amassed 14 Grand Slam doubles championships with her sister Venus, who both have won dozens of trophies and ended up achieving a ranking of No.1. Their story and that of their Father was made into the Oscar-winning film “King Richard.”, a role played by Will Smith.

I don’t particularly like to think about my legacy. I get asked about it a lot, and I never know exactly what to say. But I’d like to think that thanks to opportunities afforded to me, women athletes feel that they can be themselves on the court. “They can play with aggression and pump their fists. They can be strong yet beautiful. They can wear what they want and say what they want and kick butt and be proud of it all.”

Should Williams win at the National Bank Open in Toronto, it will be her first singles match win in over a year. Whatever the outcome, Williams is the only other tennis player next to Margret Court to win 24 or more Grand Slam singles titles than Williams.

“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. 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.”

However, Williams added in her essay that while she would have liked to win 30 or more Grand Slams, if she had to choose between it and her family, she would choose her daughter and husband, the co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian.

“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair. 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 also added that she and her husband want another baby and that she didn’t want to be an athlete while pregnant again. After returning to tennis after the birth of her first child, Williams suffered an injury at Wimbledon that saw her out of commission for a year.

“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 wrote in her essay. “But I’m going to try.”

After Wimbledon, Williams stated when asked if she would compete again, stated it was a question she could not answer saying” I don’t know. … Who knows? Who knows where I’ll pop up?” As for her last tournament, the 23-time Grand Slam Champ said “I’m not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court moment. I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst.”

Williams and the WTA Tour will be heading to Flushing Meadows in New York for the U.S. Open. An event that ranks among the top sports betting opportunities in tennis, bettors wanting to wager on its outcome will find multiple promotional offers from some of the top bookmakers in Canada. Thereafter, bettors wanting to bet on a Grand Slam will have to wait until January when the WTA arrives in Australia for the 2023 Australian Open.