After an extremely successful career consisting of many sponsorships, 23 career doubles titles, 73 career singles titles, as well as over $94 million in career winnings, Williams has decided to “evolve away from tennis and towards other things that are important to her.” In an interview with Vogue on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, world renowned tennis player Serena Williams announced her retirement a couple months before her 41st birthday. After an extremely successful career consisting of many sponsorships, 23 career doubles titles, 73 career singles titles, as well as over $94 million in career winnings, Williams has decided to “evolve away from tennis and towards other things that are important to her.” 

Williams wants to focus on her family ,spending time with her 5 year old daughter, Olympia, and potential plans to have another child with her husband, Alexis Ohanian. “I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair,” Williams said in her interview with Vogue. “If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family.”

As she will not be competitively playing tennis anymore, Williams plans to expand her company, Serena Ventures, which is a smaller investment firm. Nike plans to continue their partnership with Williams and they stated, “We look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with her. And, we thank her for all she has done and will do in the future.”

Although saying goodbye to tennis is going to be a difficult and emotional process for Williams, she is looking forward to what the future holds for her in terms of her family life as well as business ventures. She concluded her interview with Vogue with a formal goodbye to the sport she loves most, saying “I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst. But please know that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words. 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.”