Today, August 9, 2022, it was officially announced the retirement of Serena Williams, who is currently participating in the National Bank Open in Toronto.
Serena Williams is widely considered as one of the greatest tennis players of all times. The arrival of the Williams sisters has been credited with the start of a new era of power and athleticism on the women’s professional tennis tour. Serena has the most Grand Slams combined in singles, doubles and mixed doubles among active players, with 39: 23 in singles, 14 in women’s doubles and two in mixed doubles.
She is the third on the all-times list and the second in the Open Era for total majors titles. She is the most recent woman to simultaneously hold all four major singles Slams (2002-03 and 2014-15), and the most recent woman to win the Surface Slam (major titles on hard, clay and grass courts in the same calendar year), doing so in 2015.
This player like no other publicly announced her retirement and here at JefeBet we tell you all about it.
Serena Williams’ Retirement Statements
Serena Williams’ retirement was announced by her via an Instagram post and a Tweet directing to her interview in the latest issue of Vogue. In this interview the tennis player says:
I’m turning 41 this month, and something’s got to give […]. I’ve been reluctant to admit that I have to move on from playing tennis. Alexis [Ohanian], my husband, and I have hardly talked about it; it’s like a taboo topic. I can’t even have this conversation with my mom and dad. It’s like it’s not real until you say it out loud.
Williams said she doesn’t like the word retirement and prefers to think of this stage of her life as “evolving away from tennis, into other things that are important to me.”
“It comes up, I get an uncomfortable lump in my throat, and I start to cry. The only person I’ve really gone there with is my therapist! One thing I’m not going to do is sugarcoat this. I know that a lot of people are excited about and look forward to retiring, and I really wish I felt that way.”
Later, she reflected on his path to Wimbledon 2022:
“Unfortunately I wasn’t ready to win Wimbledon this year,” Williams said at the rehearsal. ” And I don’t know if I will be ready to win New York. But I’m going to try. And the lead-up tournaments will be fun. I know there’s a fan fantasy that I might have tied Margaret that day in London, then maybe beat her record in New York, and then at the trophy ceremony say ‘See ya!’ I get that. It’s a good fantasy. But I’m not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court moment. I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst.”
Reactions to the Announcement
Of course, this news shocked the world and here we bring you some of the reactions that took over the social networks:
Undoubtedly, Serena Williams’ participation in the upcoming 2022 US Open will be a big part of the media attraction for any tennis fan.