Williams begins ‘countdown’
Saying ‘‘the countdown has begun’’, 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams has announced she is ready to step away from tennis so she can turn her focus to having another child and her business interests, presaging the end of a career that transcended sports.
In an essay released by Vogue magazine, and a post on Instagram – the sorts of direct-to-fans communication favoured these days by celebrities, a category she most definitely fits – Williams was not completely clear on the timeline for her last match, but it could happen at the US Open, which begins August 29 in New York.
‘‘There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction. That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness, do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun,’’ Williams, who turns 41 next month, wrote on Instagram.
‘‘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.’’
Williams, one of the greatest and most accomplished athletes in the history of her – or any other – sport, wrote in the essay that she does not like the word ‘‘retirement’’ and prefers to think of this stage of her life as ‘‘evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me’’.
‘‘I feel a great deal of pain. It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate it. I hate that I have to be at this crossroads,’’ she wrote.
‘‘I keep saying to myself, I wish it could be easy for me, but it’s not. I’m torn: I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next.’’
Williams is playing this week in Toronto, at a hardcourt tournament that leads into the US Open. That will be the year’s last grand slam event and one she has won six times, most recently in 2014, to go along with seven titles apiece at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, plus three at the French Open.
She also owns 14 grand slam doubles championships, all won with her older sister, Venus, part of a remarkable tale of two siblings from Compton, California, who grew up to both be ranked No1, win dozens of trophies and dominate tennis for stretches – a story told in the Oscar-winning film King Richard.
The official Twitter feed for Wimbledon posted this message yesterday above a photo of Williams: ‘‘Some play the game. Others change it.’’
‘‘I don’t particularly like to think about my legacy. I get asked about it a lot, and I never know exactly what to say. But I’d like to think that thanks to opportunities afforded to me, women athletes feel that they can be themselves on the court,’’ Williams wrote.
‘‘They can play with aggression and pump their fists. They can be strong yet beautiful. They can wear what they want and say what they want and kick butt and be proud of it all.’’
The American has won more grand slam singles titles in the professional era than any other woman or man. Only one player, Margaret Court, collected more, 24, although the Australian won a portion of hers in the amateur era.