Serena Williams announces she will retire after the US Open

Serena Williams’ playing career will be coming to an end very soon. The 40-year-old tennis player confirmed she has set a definitive date to call it quits in an article for Vogue magazine. She plans to retire from professional tennis after taking part in the next US Open (29 August to 11 September). “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,” Serena, winner of 23 Grand Slams, explained.

“I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” the youngest of the Williams sisters wrote. The tennis star, who will turn 41 next month, intends to compete for the last time in the upcoming US Open, a Grand Slam she has won six times. Serena is currently competing in the WTA 1,000 in Toronto, where she beat Nuria Párrizas in the first round - her first victory in over 400 days.

After playing Wimbledon last year, Serena stopped competing due to physical problems, although she never officially announced her retirement. A year later, Williams announced that she would return to compete at Wimbledon, but she did not make it past the first round. Now, the American is thinking about bringing her career to its conclusion in her own country, where she wants to leave tennis with a positive feeling.

In 2017, Serena gave birth to her only daughter, Olympia. In her retirement letter, the tennis legend explained why her family is now her priority and the main reason for saying goodbye. She and her husband Alex will be trying to have another child so that Olympia can get her wish and be “a big sister”. “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. 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. 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”.