The 40-year-old is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players in history, having won 23 grand slams in her career.
‘It’s the hardest thing’ – Serena Williams announces retirement from tennis
Tennis superstar Serena Williams has announced that she will be retiring from the sport after the US Open tournament in Toronto.
Williams participated in her first professional event at the age of 14 when she contested the Bell Challenge in Quebec in 1995.
She has since taken her career to the next level, facing the sport’s best and winning against many of them to stand out in the last two decades.
Announcing her retirement via Vogue, the 23-time grand slam winner said “it is the hardest thing to do” while explaining: “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.”
Williams said she was breaking away from tennis in order to spend more time with her husband and their five-year-old child.
She noted that she also wants to have another child, admitting she could no longer combine motherhood and the sport at her age.
“I definitely don't want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out,” she added.
Williams is already a millionaire and will now be setting her sight on making her businesses grow further in her retirement.
The tennis legend owns the Serena Ventures and is also a minority owner of the NFL's Miami Dolphins. Also, she's a part owner of a National Women's Soccer League Team, as well as a clothing line, S by Serena.
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