Serena Williams Just Said She’s Not ~Actually~ Retired From Tennis
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Serena Williams told Vogue that the U.S. Open would be her final competition, but now she’s saying that might not actually be the case.
The 41-year-old recently discussed the decision at a conference in San Francisco.
Serena initially said she was retiring to focus on expanding her family with her husband, Alexis Ohanian.
Serena Williams has been a dominant player in tennis for decades, and after her elimination during this year’s U.S. Open, fans thought they’d be saying goodbye to the tennis champ’s iconic backhand forever. However, the G.O.A.T. just made a big announcement: She actually *isn't* retired.
The 41-year-old talked about her original decision to retire in an as-told-to interview with Vogue right before the U.S. Open in September, hinting that it would be her last tournament. But this week, she said that she is “not retired,” while promoting her investment company, Serena Ventures, at a conference in San Francisco, per NBC News. She added that the chances of her returning to the sport “are very high.”
The star player originally cited expanding her family with her husband, Alexis Ohanian as her reasoning for stepping away from the sport.
“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,” the 23-time Grand Slam champion said in the essay.
However, she also explained, “I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”
After losing to Ajla Tomljanovic at this year’s U.S. Open tournament, Serena reflected on her life without competitive matches.
“I did wake up the other day and go on the court and (considered) for the first time in my life that I’m not playing for a competition, and it felt really weird,” she said at the conference on Oct. 24. “It was like the first day of the rest of my life and I’m enjoying it, but I’m still trying to find that balance.”
Serena has been a tennis powerhouse since she was a teenager, so it’s understandable that a life without the sport would feel unnatural.
And more than her wins, she completely changed public perception of what it means to be a female professional tennis player. Here’s a look back at some of her top achievements.
She had her first Grand Slam main draw appearance in 1998 at age 16.
Serena was just 16 when she made a Grand Slam main draw appearance. She was ranked 304 at the time and made it to the semi-finals of the Sydney Opej, according to Tennis Majors. She ended the season ranked number 20 in the world.
She won her first Grand Slam singles at the US Open a year later in 1999.
Serena was just 17 when she won the 1999 U.S. Open, beating Martina Hingis in the finals. With that victory, Serena became the first Black woman since Althea Gibson in 1958 to win a major singles title, according to ESPN.
“I didn’t know what to do—laugh or cry or just scream—so I think I did it all,” Serena said afterward, per CBS News.
In 2012, she achieved the “Golden Slam.”
The “Golden Slam,” in case you’re not familiar with it, is winning all four Grand Slams: the championships of Australia, France, Britain (aka Wimbledon), and the U.S. and an Olympic gold medal. Tennis legend Steffi Graf is the only other person to do this.
"Coming here and winning today is amazing," Serena said after she won Wimbledon. "It's been an unbelievable journey for me."
Overall, Serena has won four Olympic gold medals.
“I never expected gold in singles,” Serena said after she won her first individual gold medal, per Tennis.com. “I was so happy with my doubles golds. I thought, ‘If my career’s over, I have my gold medal and now I have everything.’ Now I have singles, doubles, actually everything there is to win in tennis. Where do I go from here?”
In 2015, she won the French Open while battling the flu.
Serena almost pulled out of the 2015 French Open because she was sick with the flu. According to ESPN, Serena had a 101-degree fever and intense flu symptoms during the semi-final round.
“I was crying so hard,” she said. “I didn’t want to win. I just wanted to go home. I said, ‘I can’t play anymore.’”
While she still wasn’t feeling great at the final, she showed up—and won.
In 2017, she won the Australian Open while 8 weeks pregnant for her record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam singles title.
Nobody knew it at the time, but Serena beat Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles while she was eight weeks pregnant with her daughter.
Serena didn’t share that she was pregnant until she was 20 weeks along, and later said, per The Washington Post, that she was “nervous” to play the tournament while pregnant.
She changed tennis fashion forever.
Tennis fashion used to mean showing up in various takes on a top and pleated shirt. Serena wasn’t interested in that, and wore various catsuits on the court. She also rocked a one-shouldered tutu at the U.S. Open in 2018.
"I've been like this my whole life, and I embrace me and I love how I look,” she told Good Morning America. “I love that I am a full woman, and I'm strong and I'm powerful and I'm beautiful at the same time and there's nothing wrong with that. I just don't have time to be brought down. I have too many things to do, you know. I have Grand Slams to win. I have people to inspire. And that's what I'm here for."
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