the mythical Serena Williams, former number 1 in the world and winner of 23 Grand Slams throughout her career, announced that she will retire from tennis professional and that his farewell would be after the US Open. “It’s the hardest thing I could imagine. I don’t want it to end, but at the same time I’m prepared for what’s coming,” said the American.
In a letter published this Tuesday in the magazine Vogue and titled “Serena Williams says goodbye to tennis on her own terms and in her own words”the current number 407 in the WTA ranking hinted that once the US Open ends, a tournament that will be held from August 29 to September 11, her extensive and spectacular career will end.
“Perhaps the best word to describe what I am doing is evolution. I am here to tell you that I am evolving away from tennis, towards other things that are important to me (…) These days, if I have to choose between putting together my tennis resume or putting together my family, I choose the latter”, confessed Serena to the famous fashion magazine.
Why is Serena Williams retiring?
The Saginaw, Michigan native, who will turn 41 on Sept. 26, is currently playing the Montreal Masters 1000where she won 6-3 and 6-4 against the Spanish Nuria Párrizas (57th) for the first round and in which she was his first win in over a yearafter a season full of injuries.
“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I do not think it’s fair. If I were a man, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be playing and winning while my wife is doing the physical work of expanding our family.”sentenced the youngest of the Williams sisters.
A sister for Alexis
Williams has a daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., who was born on September 1, 2017, after a difficult delivery. in which he suffered a pulmonary embolism. The tennis player, considered by many to be the best in history (she is one Grand Slam short of the Australian Margaret Court’s record), confessed that Olympia wants a sister and that “sometimes, before going to bed, she prays to Jehovah to bring her to her”.
“Don’t get me wrong: I love being a woman and loved every second of Olympia’s pregnancy. And I almost achieved 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 has to give,” added Serena.
“In the last year, Alexis (her husband) and I have been trying to have another child. I definitely don’t want to get pregnant again as an athlete.”deepened the American.
The US Open, last stop?
Although Serena did not explicitly state that she will retire after the US Open, she did hint that it would be her last tournament: “I don’t know if I’m ready to win in New York, but I’ll try. I know there is a fantasy that I tie Margaret in NY and that at the awards ceremony I say ‘did you see that I could?’, but I’m not looking for that. I’m not looking for a final moment on the pitch. I’m terrible at goodbyes.”.
“There is no happiness in this subject for me. I know that it is not the usual thing to say, but I feel a lot of pain. It’s the hardest thing I could ever imagine. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to see this magazine when it comes out, knowing that this is it, the end of a story that began in Compton, California, with a black girl who just wanted to play tennis. This sport has given me a lot”, she finished the only human being who has managed to complete the Golden Slam – winning all four Majors and the Olympic gold medal – in both singles and doubles.
Titles and records of Serena Williams
Grand Slams
Serena Williams won 73 singles tournaments, including 23 Grand Slams, the most important category: 7 times the Australian Open, 3 Roland Garros, 7 Wimbledon and 6 the US Open.
In relation to the Majors remained, until now, at the gates of the record that he most desired, something that he has recognized on more than one occasion. Serena is just one Grand Slam short of reaching the Australian’s record 24 titles Margaret Courtthe most successful in history.
Margaret Court’s record
“I remember when I passed Martina Hingis’s Grand Slams record. Then Seles’s. And then I tied Billie Jean King, who is a huge inspiration to me for how she’s pioneered gender equality in all sports. Then it was climb the mountain Chris Evert-Martina Navratilova. Some people say I’m not the GOAT because I didn’t beat Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles, which she achieved before the ‘open era’ that started in 1968 I would be lying if I said I don’t want that record. Obviously I do. But day by day, I’m not really thinking about her.”Serena told Vogue on the matter.
The last competition of this caliber that he won was the 2017 Australian Open. From then to date she was a mother, which took her out of the circuit for several months, and she played four finals —two from Wimbledon and two from the US Open—, although I can’t win any. In addition, it should be noted that during his career he won 14 Majors in the doubles modality and two in mixed (with a male partner).
Olympic medals
Serena has 4 Olympic medals in her record, all of them gold: He is only below his sister who won 5, although one of them was silver.
Consecutive weeks as WTA No. 1
Williams holds, together with Steffi Graf, the record for the most weeks as number 1 in the WTA world ranking with 186. As for the accumulated, she adds 319, she is only behind the German with 377 and Martina Navratilova with 332.
Money
In her career, she has earned more than $94.5 million from her tournament appearances alone, more than any other woman.. For years, until the appearance of Naomi OsakaMorealso a tennis player She was the only woman who appeared in the list of 100 athletes who billed the most. Their main source of income has not been prize moneybut for multinationals: according to Forbes it was 45.9 million dollars during 2021 alone.