Male or female, one of the greatest tennis players to ever step foot on the court is ready to walk away from it.
In an essay posted on Vogue, Serena Williams announced that she’s ready to “evolve away from tennis” after this year’s U.S. Open.
“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.”
“Unfortunately I wasn’t ready to win Wimbledon this year. And I don’t know if I will be ready to win New York. But I’m going to try.”
Serena Williams’ name has become synonymous with the sport of tennis, much like Michael Jordan is to basketball or Tom Brady has become to football. She’s won a total of 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 putting her just one singles grand slam title behind the all-time record held by Australian Margaret Court.
Furthermore, Williams has four Olympic gold medals and has banked over $94.5 million in career prize money more than any other female athlete, ever.
As far as this year’s U.S. Open goes, Williams says she’s not looking for “some ceremonial, final on-court moment,” although it’s hard to believe we’ll get anything but for a legend of the game whose legacy is simply untouchable.
