Serena Williams to retire in bid to have a second child

Serena Williams is to retire after the US Open, bringing an end to her recordbreaking 27-year professional tennis career.

“The best word to describe what I’m up to is ‘evolution’,” the 37-time Grand Slam titles winner – seven of whose singles championship wins and six doubles titles came at Wimbledon – wrote in a magazine article. “I’m evolving away from tennis toward other things that are important to me.”

Saying she was stepping down to grow her family with husband Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit and the father of her four- year- old daughter Olympia, she continued: “If I have to choose between building my tennis résumé and building my family, I choose the latter.”

The move also comes a year after she and sister Venus were involved in producing the Oscar-winning film King Richard, about their upbringing under the tough regime of their father and coach, Richard.

Serena opened up in her article about the life options available to women, saying: “I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair.

“If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labour of expanding our family.”

She added: “I’d like to think that thanks to opportunities afforded to me, women athletes feel that they can be themselves on the court. 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.”

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