Serena’s set to call it quits

SERENA Williams, a 23-time grand slam title champion and iconic tennis superstar for a generation, says “the countdown has begun” to her retirement from the sport.

The 40-year-old wrote a cover essay for Vogue magazine and an Instagram post in which she set the stage for “evolving away from tennis.”

“There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction,” she said on Instagram. “That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis.

“But now, the countdown has begun. I have to focus on being a mum, my spiritual goals and finally discovering a different, but just (as) exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.”

After suffering a torn right hamstring at W i m b l e d o n last year, Williams (pictured) was w sidelined until playing

doubles at Eastbourne in June and made a return at Wimbledon as a wild card, losing in the first round. On Monday, the American competed in her first hardcourt match in 18 months, defeating Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz to reach the second round of the WTA hardcourt event in Toronto.

Williams is set to play next week at Cincinnati and compete at the US Open.

“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me,” Williams wrote in Vogue. “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.”

Williams remains one shy of the all-time record of 24 grand slam singles titles won by Australian Margaret Court.