In an article penned for Vogue Magazine, Serena Williams officially announced her retirement from Tennis.
The 40-year-old told Rob Haskell, a contributor to the famed magazine, about her thought process leading toward the move.
She cited her family as a chief reason for the decision, wanting to expand her already growing family with her husband and 5-year-old daughter, Olympia.
Referencing former #1 Ashleigh Barty and Caroline Wozniacki, she looked to peers who recently made the transition. Williams expressed the bittersweet feeling of her career’s end, implicating it is not a retirement, but rather an evolution.
In response to the news, fans reached out in droves, as athletes issued their support in kind:
Williams has won 73 Singles Titles, 14 Grand Slam Doubles titles, 4 Olympic Gold Medals, and, most importantly, 23 Grand Slams over her 20-plus-year career, the most in modern-day history.
She’s second only to Tennis legend Margret Court, who won 24 over her 17-year career, 45 years ago.
Currently, Williams is amid the National Bank Open, better known as the Canadian Open, she is set to compete against #12 ranked Swiss star Belinda Bencic in the round of 32.
The jury is still out on when the evolution will take place, as many speculated her final competition would be the US Open, before the eventual news release.
