Serena Williams Hints Bidding ‘Farewell’ To Tennis After US Open
Tennis superstar Serena Williams has hinted she is considering retirement from tennis, saying she will be distancing herself from the sport after the US Open.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion in her publication in Vogue’ magazine titled ‘SERENA’S FAREWELL’ suggested she will be moving towards other things that are important and dear to her, adding she does not like the word “retirement”.
The American later gave the gist in her Instagram post with the caption “the countdown has begun”. Adding “I’m gonna relish these next few weeks,”.
The 40-year-old made her injury return at Wimbledon in June after a lengthy period off the court that actually fueled the speculation about her retirement.
She has confirmed she will play at the US Open later in August — where she won six of her major singles titles.
Williams holds the record for most major singles titles among females in the Open era and the second most of all time, behind Margaret Court who has 24.
“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, I know there’s a fan fantasy that I might have tied Margaret that day in London, then maybe beat her record in New York, and then at the trophy ceremony say, “See ya!” She wrote.
She added “I get that. It’s a good fantasy. But I’m not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court moment. I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst. But please know that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words.”
She won her first singles in 14 months on Monday, beating Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz to reach the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto.
Williams finds it difficult quitting the sports she love so much “I’ve reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing tennis. Alexis, my husband, and I have hardly talked about it; it’s like a taboo topic, I can’t even have this conversation with my mom and dad. It’s like it’s not real until you say it out loud. It comes up, I get an uncomfortable lump in my throat, and I start to cry. I know that a lot of people are excited about and look forward to retiring, and I really wish I felt that way.” She wrote copiously in an essay.
In singles, Williams hold in her hands seven singles each in Wimbledon and Australian Open, plus six US Open trophies and three French Open titles. Her first major title was the 1999 US Open, when she was just 17.
Williams won her last Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open when she was eight weeks pregnant with daughter Olympia.
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