Serena Williams looks to be preparing to retire from professional tennis for good. In a Vogue piece published on Tuesday, the great athlete, who has won innumerable trophies throughout a nearly three-decade playing career, hinted that she plans to retire after the 2018 US Open.
Williams, 40, is presently competing at the Canadian Open, where she won her first singles match in over a year earlier this week and will return to play another round on Wednesday. While continuing to compete against the world’s best athletes in competitions such as Wimbledon and last year’s French Open, Williams has also shifted her focus away from tennis in recent years.
In her latest piece, she claims that “growing away from tennis” will allow her to pursue other things.
“I’ve never liked the term “retirement.” It doesn’t strike me as a contemporary term. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be careful how I use that term, which has a very particular and vital meaning to a group of people “She penned a letter. “Perhaps evolution is the best term to express what I’m up to. I’m here to inform you that I’m shifting my focus away from tennis and into other activities that are important to me.”