Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion who has been the face of tennis since her first US Open win in 1999, said Tuesday that she plans to retire from the sport after competing again competed in the tournament, which begins later this month.
Williams, who has long since transcended her sport as a dominant cultural figure, said in a cover story for Vogue that she “never liked the word retirement” and prefers the word “evolution” to describe her next steps. “I’m evolving away from tennis into other things that are important to me,” including working with her venture capital firm and raising her family.
Williams said she and her husband Alexis Ohanian planned to have another child.
“For the last year Alexis and I have been trying to have another child and we recently received some information from my doctor that has put my mind at ease and that we can expand our family whenever we are ready . As an athlete, I definitely don’t want to get pregnant again. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.
Williams, whose last Grand Slam tournament win came while pregnant at the 2017 Australian Open, was knocked out in the first round at Wimbledon in June.
“Unfortunately, this year I wasn’t ready to win Wimbledon,” said Williams. “And I don’t know if I’ll be ready to win New York. But I will try it. And the preparatory tournaments will be fun.”
Williams has won nearly $100 million in prize money.
This is an evolving story and will be updated.