Serena Williams announces her retirement from tennis

Tennis legend Serena Williams announced her retirement in an article for Vogue on Tuesday.

“I have never really liked the word ‘retire,’” Williams wrote. “Probably the best word to describe what I’m up to is ‘evolution.’” I’m here to tell you that I’m developing away from tennis, towards other things that interest me.”

Williams, who will complete 41 next month, has 73 career singles titles, 23 career doubles titles, and more than $94 million in his career.

Williams was widely hailed as one of the greatest athletes of all time. In her Vogue article, she notes that some of her critics point out that she has not won the most Grand Slam titles in women’s tennis history.

“There are people who say I’m not a goat because I didn’t break Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles, which I achieved before the ‘open era’ that began in 1968,” Williams wrote. “I would be lying if I said I don’t want that record.”

She said she would retire after the US Open, which will run from late August to September. Her victory there would tie her to the court record at the Grand Slam.

“I don’t know if I’ll be ready to win New York,” Williams wrote of the tournament in Queens. “But I will.”

It counted sponsorships from companies like Nike, Audemars Piguet, Away, Beats, Bumble, Gatorade, Gucci, Lincoln, Michelob, Nintendo, Wilson Sporting Goods, Procter and Gamble.

“I’ve never wanted to choose between tennis and family. I don’t think it’s fair,” Williams wrote. “If I were a young man, I wouldn’t write this because I would be there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family.”

Williams focused on her family in the ad, writing that her nearly five-year-old daughter wants to be an older sister. Williams is married to Alexis Ohanian, founder of Reddit.

“I have to focus on being a mother, my spiritual goals, and finally discovering a different, but exciting Serena. I’ll be enjoying these next few weeks,” Williams wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

Professionally, she’s looking to expand Serena Ventures, a small six-person investment firm that was an early investor in MasterClass. Each company raised $111 million in external funding this year.

Williams wrote that only 2% of venture capital goes to women and that “in order for us to change that, more people like me need to be in the position, and make the money back for themselves.”