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Serena Williams hints at her retirement from tennis after the US Open: “My God, I like tennis. But now the countdown has begun”

John Paul Elverdin

(CNN) Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, hinted Tuesday that she will retire from tennis after the US Open. “There comes a time in life when we have to decide to go in a different direction,” Williams posted on Instagram.

“That moment is always difficult when you love something so much. My God, how I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown began. I have to focus on being a mother, on my spiritual goals and on finally discovering a different but simply exciting Serena. I’m going to savor these next few weeks,” she added.

Williams posted on her social media a photo of herself on the cover of Vogue with the caption: “Serena’s farewell… ‘I’m terrible at farewells.'”

“I never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t seem like a modern word to me. I’ve thought 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. Perhaps the best word to describe what I am doing is evolution. I am here to tell you that I am evolving away from tennis, towards other things that are important to me.”

This is the life of Serena Williams: titles, age, family, ranking and other data

She continued: “Unfortunately I wasn’t ready to win Wimbledon this year. And I don’t know if I’ll be ready to win New York. But I’m going to try”.

The announcement comes a day after the 40-year-old won her first singles match in 430 days.

Last June, at Wimbledon, she played her first singles match in over a year, losing to France’s Harmony Tan. She then hinted that she might play at home at the US Open, which starts on August 29.

an amazing race

Since her professional debut in September 1995, Williams has become the most dominant force in women’s tennis in the last 30 years.

Along with her sister Venus, they transformed the sport, making it a regular habit to win Grand Slams in both singles and doubles tennis.

So far, Serena has won 73 singles titles, 23 doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles in her career, which includes 39 Grand Slam titles: 23 singles titles, 14 doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles. She is one Grand Slam singles title shy of Australian Margaret Court’s all-time record.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist earned more than $94.5 million in prize money in her career, more than any other athlete.

Serena Williams says she could have died after giving birth 1:01

Off the track, Williams announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2016, and gave birth to their daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.

And focusing on his young family, as well as his interests outside of tennis, is why he has decided to walk away from the game that has changed forever.

“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair,” Williams explained. “If I were a man, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife is doing the physical work of expanding our family.”

“Maybe I would be more of a Tom Brady if I had that chance. Don’t get me wrong: I love being a woman, and I loved every second of my pregnancy with Olympia. I was one of those pesky women who loved being pregnant and worked until the day I had to show up at the hospital, but things got really messy on the other side. And I almost did the impossible: a lot of people don’t know that I was two months pregnant when I won the Australian Open in 2017. But I’m turning 41 this month and something has to give.”

The-CNN-Wire
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