Long tennis legend Serena Williams has announced her intention to retire after the U.S. Open, stating that she is “evolving” from the sport.
Serena, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, managed her only second appearance of the year this week at the National Bank Open In Toronto. Regarding her career, Serena said after the game that she was “getting close to the light at the end of the tunnel.”
The tennis star was quoted in a Vogue article today as saying, “I have never liked the word ‘retirement’.
“It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. 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.
“I’ve been reluctant to admit that I have to move on from playing tennis. It’s like a taboo topic. It comes up, and I start to cry. I think the only person I’ve really gone there with is my therapist,” she revealed.
Serena won her last Grand Slam title in 2017, amounting to a total of 23 Grand Slams for the American and just one shy of Margaret Court, who currently retains the record for the most majors in history.
“There are people who say I’m not the GOAT because I didn’t pass Court’s record, which she achieved before the ‘Open era’ that began in 1968.
“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 Slam final, then yes, I’m thinking about that record. Maybe I thought about it too much, and that didn’t help,” she said.
