Just a day after winning her first singles match in over 430 days, Serena Williams has announced her intentions to "evolve away from tennis."
In an article for Vogue she says, "There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction," Williams posted on Instagram with a picture of herself on the cover of Vogue with the title: 'Serena's Farewell...I'm terrible at goodbyes.'
"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 exciting Serena. I'm gonna relish these next few weeks."
"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 has certainly made her impact on tennis and women's sports:
- Four-time Olympic gold medalist
- 73 career singles titles
- 23 doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles which include 39 grand slam titles -- 23 singles titles, 14 doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles
"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 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."
"Maybe I'd be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity. Don't get me wrong: I love being a woman, and I loved every second of being pregnant with Olympia. I was one of those annoying women who adored being pregnant and was working until the day I had to report to the hospital -- although things got super complicated on the other side. And I almost did do the impossible: A lot of people don't realize that I was two months pregnant when I won the Australian Open in 2017. But I'm turning 41 this month, and something's got to give."
Check out the full article here.