Serena Williams is retiring from professional tennis after the U.S. Open. The Grand Slam champion recently shared her decision with Vogue readers, which was released on Tuesday (Aug. 9).
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“This morning, my daughter, Olympia, who turns five this month, and I were on our way to get her a new passport before a trip to Europe,” Serena began her letter. “We’re in my car, and she’s holding my phone, using an interactive educational app she likes. This robot voice asks her a question: What do you want to be when you grow up? She doesn’t know I’m listening, but I can hear the answer she whispers into the phone. She says, ‘I want to be a big sister.'”
Serena admitted that her daughter often expresses her desire to have a little sister, though “she doesn’t want anything to do with a boy!” Still, Serena didn’t think to take drastic actions to expand the family until the present. “This has felt like a moment I need to listen very carefully to,” the tennis star shared with Vogue readers.
“In the last year, Alexis and I have been trying to have another child, and we recently got some information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family,” Williams revealed. “I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete,” the tennis player declared. “I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”
Although she loves the game that she has played since she was a little girl, Serena Williams admitted that “something’s got to give” when weighing her options between a demanding career and her life as a wife and mom. “The fact is that nothing is a sacrifice for me when it comes to Olympia,” Serena wrote in her farewell letter. “It all just makes sense,” she added. “I want to teach her how to tie her shoes, how to read, where babies come from, and about God. Just like my mom taught me.”
Some may view Serena’s retirement from professional tennis as a farewell and goodbye. Williams, however, does not want to focus on the aspect of her leaving the game. “I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst,” Serena shared in her Vogue letter.
“But please know that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words,” Serena told her fans. “You have carried me to so many wins and so many trophies. I’m going to miss that version of me, that girl who played tennis. And I’m going to miss you.”
Photo: Serena Williams/Instagram
