Serena Williams doesn’t like the word “retirement” but has revealed she is “evolving away” from tennis to focus on her family, her venture capitalist company, and what’s next for her life.
Williams is recognised as one of the most successful athletes of all time, with 23 grand slam singles titles to her name. In an article published in Vogue, Williams has explained that her decision to leave tennis behind has been “the hardest thing I could ever imagine”. Williams hinted she could step away from tennis after the upcoming US Open.
“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me,” Wiliams wrote in Vogue. “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.”
Williams wrote about her discomfort with leaving tennis, a sport she continues to love, and noted that she can’t relate to the experiences of other players, like Ash Barty and Caroline Wozniacki, who have happily retired at the top of their game.
“This sport has given me so much. I love to win. I love the battle. I love to entertain. I’m not sure every player sees it that way, but I love the performance aspect of it—to be able to entertain people week after week,” she said.
“It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate it. I hate that I have to be at this crossroads. 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 also admitted she finds it hard to talk to her family about retiring.
“Alexis, my husband, and I have hardly talked about it; it’s like a taboo topic. I can’t even have this conversation with my mom and dad. It’s like it’s not real until you say it out loud. It comes up, I get an uncomfortable lump in my throat, and I start to cry.”
More than anything else, Williams says she wants to focus on expanding her family and giving her daughter, Olympia, a younger sibling. Although she did mention she didn’t think it was fair she had to choose between tennis and family, as many male athletes wouldn’t feel the need to make the same choice.
“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 explained she is excited to focus on Serena Ventures, her venture capitalist company which primarily invests in companies started by people of colour and women.
Williams did not explicitly state she will retire after the US Open, which begins at the end of August, but said the countdown had begun.
“My goodness do I enjoy tennis,” she wrote. “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.”