Serena Williams Retiring From Tennis Has Everything to Do With Exciting Family Plans

Thea Glassman

August 10, 2022 at 6:05 PM·2 min read

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Serena Williams opened up about her decision to retire from tennis — and it has a lot to do with her tight-knit, growing family. The athlete penned an article for Vogue where she got candid about moving on from her iconic career on the court.

“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 wrote. “I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”

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The athlete has definitely had her share of experiences with pulling mom duty and tennis duty. Williams noted in her essay that she was two months pregnant when she won the Australian Open in 2017. Life feels different now, though. When it comes to choosing between “building [her] tennis résumé and building [her] family,” Williams said, she’s chosen the latter.

Click here to read the full article.

It’s an unfortunate double standard, the tennis star pointed out. Male athletes don’t have to choose between one or the other. They can be out there, doing their chosen sport, while their wife procreates.

While so many fans will miss seeing Williams out there shining on the court, there’s one mini fan who’s definitely, 100% on-board with these future plans. Williams’s 4-year-old daughter Olympia can’t wait to be a big sister. “Olympia says this a lot, even when she knows I’m listening,” Williams wrote. “Sometimes before bed, she prays to Jehovah to bring her a baby sister. (She doesn’t want anything to do with a boy!) I’m the youngest of five sisters myself, and my sisters are my heroes, so this has felt like a moment I need to listen very carefully to.”

Williams has been open and honest about the all the guilt she’s experienced while being on the job. “Mom guilt is real,” she told INSIDER in an April interview. “I always feel so guilty when I’m doing something on my own. I don’t know if I’m a good mom, and I don’t know if my method works, but I’m very hands-on with my daughter, and it was the same with our parents. So I’ve set really good boundaries, but then after work, I’m going right to my daughter.”

While we’re sure this wasn’t an easy decision, we’re so glad that Williams is doing what makes her feel happy. Baby #2, here we come!

Even when you’re famous, Mom Guilt is a thing, as these celebrity moms show.