You don’t become a sporting legend overnight. It takes years and years of practice and discipline to achieve sporting success at the highest level. And it’s even tougher to maintain and sustain that success for years at the top. One such tennis legend who has records that you’d never imagine can be broken again, is USA’s Serena Williams.
She’s had plenty of battles with other women tennis players from across the world, including some very iconic grand slam finals against her sister Venus Williams itself. She has more grand slam titles than today’s top ten ranked female payers put together. But alas, we won’t see her competing professionally any longer.
Serena Williams announces retirement
She’s always aimed for perfection right through her career, and 23 women’s singles grand slam titles is a record that will speak for itself. Her professional career lasted 27 years and while she was still at the top of the game when she left for maternity leave, she struggled to be among the top players after returning.
She missed multiple majors and finally returned for Wimbledon 2022 where she lost in three sets to unseeded Harmony Tan in just her first round game. Obviously, she would’ve had plenty of thinking to do after that early exit and she decided to part ways with this sport that she’s played since her childhood days, in the most unique fashion.
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Earlier this year, former number one Ashleigh Barty decided to call it quits at a young age through an interview posted online. Most others decide that a social media post should do the trick. As for Serena, she’s broken barriers and decided that featuring on the September edition of Vogue Magazine was the right way to break the news of her retirement to the world.
The article cover image is one of Serena wearing a long blue gown, the ends of which are being held up by none other than her 5-year old daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. The Vogue September issue had this heading to the article – “Serena Williams Says Farewell to Tennis On Her Own Terms—And In Her Own Words”.
The retirement story was written by Serena herself and told by Rob Haskell. Looking stunning in her Sergio Hudson dress. Serena spoke about how saying goodbye is the hardest thing for her, and that she doesn’t think that the word ‘retirement’ is a modern one. But she thinks that this is the right decision to make.
In Vogue’s September issue, @serenawilliams prepares to say farewell to tennis on her own terms and in her own words. “It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine,” she says. “I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next” https://t.co/6Zr0UXVTH1 pic.twitter.com/YtGtcc18a9
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) August 9, 2022
“I’ve been reluctant to admit that I have to move on from playing tennis. It’s like a taboo topic. It comes up, and I start to cry. I think the only person I’ve really gone there with is my therapist,” said Serena. She spoke about her venture capitalist firm Serena Ventures, and how she’s going to focus on growing her family as well.
While she already has one daughter, Olympia explained how she wants a sister and that’s something we may see soon now as well. One thing that she did keep mentioning in her article though is that she’s not ready to say goodbye to the game of tennis and that it’s going to be the toughest thing in the world for her.
She said, “I’m torn: I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to look at this magazine when it comes out, knowing that this is it, the end of a story that started in Compton, California, with a little Black girl who just wanted to play tennis.”
In 2021, a sport biography called King Richard was released with Will Smith as the lead actor. It showcased the struggles faced by Serena and the Williams family, and it’s great to see where they reached despite those troubles. This complete legend of the game is waking away today, 9th August 2022, and we wish her the best of luck for the rest of her life.
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