Tennis great Serena Williams announced she will retire from the sport after this year’s U.S. Open, an event she has won six times and begins later this month. Williams said she will be focused on growing her family. She and her husband Alexis Ohanian have a five-year-old daughter, Olympia, and want to have another child.
Vogue posted the announcement from Williams online, previewing its September issue with the tennis star on the cover. In the interview, Williams said she doesn’t like the word retirement. Williams described her decision to retire as more of an evolution away from tennis. In the article, Williams said she never wanted to choose between tennis and family.
“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 labor of expanding our family,” Williams said. “Maybe I’d be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity.”
Williams has won 23 singles titles at Grand Slam tournaments, more than any woman or man in the Open era. Williams is an Olympic champion and the most decorated tennis player of her time. The moving King Richard premiered in 2021, based on her and her sister, Venus Williams, and their upbringing around the game.
“I’ve been reluctant to admit that I have to move on from playing tennis,” Serena said. “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.”
