Legendary tennis player Serena Williams announced her retirement in a Vogue article published on Tuesday.
“I have never liked the word retirement,” Williams wrote. “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.”
The 40-year-old has clinched 73 career singles titles and 23 career doubles titles.
Williams expressed that she will retire after the U.S. Open, which is scheduled later in the month.
“I don’t know if I will be ready to win New York. But I’m going to try,” Williams wrote about the tournament, which is played in Queens.
The 23-time Grand Slam Champion Williams is just one title away to share the top position of most grand slam victories by a woman in the world.
“There are people who say I’m not the GOAT because I didn’t pass Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles, which she achieved before the ‘open era’ that began in 1968,” Williams wrote. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that record.”
“I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair,” Williams wrote. “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 said that she wants to focus on her spiritual goals and motherhood going forward.
“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,” Williams wrote in an Instagram post.
