Serena Williams has opened up about retiring at 2022 US Open and the reasons behind the decision, while her sister Venus added some insight.
The tennis player who has won 23 Grand Slam titles said goodbye to the world of tennis after she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 US Open season.
While the three-set loss appeared to have seen the former American end a brilliant tennis career, he hinted that it was still possible for him to return to action one day.
However, for now he made it clear that he was ready to stay away from playing tennis.
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“I just had to stop,” Serena Williams said. “I always want to stop when I’m playing really well, winning and beating a great player.”
“For me, it’s really about what I want to do spiritually and spend time with my daughter and family. As a super mom, I can’t say how hard it was. I lost a lot of games after I gave birth to Olympia because it was really tough on the court.”
“I feel like I’ve given so much of my life to tennis, my whole life, that now it’s time to do something different for me and do something else. When you’re on the pitch, you can’t see it. It’s completely different when you’re involved.”
But Williams added, “I feel like if I wanted to come back, I certainly could still come back.”
Venus added when asked about the fact that she and her sister have changed tennis forever.
“For me, I want to do more. You want to be better in every moment. It’s never enough. If it’s perfect, it’s still not perfect enough.”
Tennis legend John McEnroe stated that players would want to see Williams and Roger Federer play forever, but he believes that neither player should return to action after announcing the decision to retire.
“Both are megastars and legends who can do whatever they want,” McEnroe said. “Serena was awesome at the US Open.”
“For me, when you announce your retirement, you should retire. But you look at other athletes and they come back and they think, ‘I just played well, I can still win’. So, it’s really up to them.”
“On the other hand, I think they are ready to move forward, then later, it’s very difficult to do so because tennis has become a big part of their lives. Then if they come back, you won’t be against them.”
“Of course we want to see them play forever, but it feels like when you share an announcement like that, it would be right to say, ‘this is how it should end’. I think it will be better for all considerations.”
