23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams admitted that it was extremely hard for her to write her retirement message in a piece published for Vogue.
Two weeks ago, Vogue published a piece written by Williams, in which the American revealed her plans to retire from professional tennis at this year’s US Open.
“Yeah. It wasn’t very easy. Like, I remember I was in, randomly, I was in Switzerland and I was just sitting in the hotel at the desk, just typing and deleting and typing and thinking and then crying and sitting at my computer and tears streaming down my face as I’m writing these words and going back on these memories,” Williams said on the Archetypes podcast, per Sportskeeda.”And it was just like, God, it was, it was really hard. Um. I mean, but I was like, if I’m going to do this, it has to be Vogue September issue, right?”
Williams announced her decision while in Toronto
The day after clinching her first victory of the 2022 season, Williams announced the US Open would be the final tournament of her career.
After being pro for nearly three decades, Williams is set to walk away from professional sports.
“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. A few years ago I quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. Soon after that, I started a family. I want to grow that family,” Williams wrote for Vogue.
In retirement, Williams plans to focus on family and business.
In her piece for Vogue, Williams revealed that she and her husband Alexis Ohanian are hoping to welcome a second child in the near future.