Serena Williams Announces Retirement

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It has been apparent for a while, but Serena Williams made it official today.

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One of the most prominent American athletes is ready to retire. Tennis legend Serena Williams has announced her retirement plans in the latest issue of Vogue. She did not put an exact timeline on when she will stop playing, but does plan to play in the upcoming US Open.

"It's the hardest thing that I could ever imagine," the tennis star told Vogue. "I don't want it to be over, but at the same time I'm ready for what's next."

In an Instagram post promoting the Vogue piece on Tuesday morning, Williams wrote "I'm gonna relish these next few weeks," insinuating that the US Open -- which begins on Aug. 29 -- will be her last tournament.

Williams, 40, changed the sport of tennis when she broke onto the scene in 1995. Since then, she has won the Australian Open seven times, Wimbledon seven times, the US Open six times and the French Open three times. Altogether, she has 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, the most by any player in the Open Era.

I've written this in other threads, but Serena Williams is probably the most influential tennis player of all time. Her approach to strength training is now the default for women on the tour. Her technically perfect serve and belief that the serve should be a weapon on the women's tour instead of just how you start the point has been copied by many of the top players. The abuse she received as a black woman playing tennis and the way she handled it led to significant changes in how all sports are covered by the press and it is not a coincidence that the wave of players of color grew up seeing Serena as the dominant player in the world. It will be interesting to see what her next chapter is.

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@engineer,

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she has 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, the most by any player in the Open Era.

that's a record that will be hard for another female player to approach, let alone top...

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She had a grand run. I wish her well.

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tonight (7:00 pm ET) could be her last hurrah...

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@Region Philbis,

Won the first set with flashes of brilliance, but this is going to be a tough tournament.

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@engineer,

The two worst commentators in tennis are John McEnroe and Chris Evert

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@engineer,

Serena wins, but honestly, it wasn't pretty. The famous serve started landing, but the groundstrokes were not nearly as scary as a few years ago.

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@engineer,

a packed stadium pulling for her was a big advantage...

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she draws the #2 player tonight.

does she have one more big match in her?

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@Region Philbis,

Tie break in the first set, great match so far.

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@engineer,

And Williams wins the first set with an ace.

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@engineer,

yup...

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@Region Philbis,

I think Kontaveit has figured it out. First time I've seen her play and I'm impressed.

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@engineer,

she's forcing Serena to run around, wearing her out...

does she have enough in the tank to play three sets?

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a minor annoyance --

i'm watching on my PC, listening in HD with headphones.

the difference in volume between the soft-spoken commentators and the umpire yelling out the calls is drastic...

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This is just absurd, the quality is amazing

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@engineer,

Wow, just wow.

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@engineer,

she raised her game in impressive fashion.

her next opponent (tomorrow night) is ranked 46th...

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@Region Philbis,

Several seeds have already fallen. If she can play like that third set for the rest of the tournament, it's going to be interesting. That last game was vintage Serena, hitting return winners to all areas of the court like it was a casual hitting session. To be honest, I don't expect that but it's nice to think about. The post-match interview was great. I really thought her comments about enjoying tennis and finally not playing "with a big, red X on my back" were awesome and even poignant. It's amazing to see her presence on the court, the gravitas she has, after over two decades of doing this. It's amazing seeing her in front of 25k spellbound fans (and uncounted more on TV) and remember that as a teenager, she was boo'd for two hours by 15,000 people at Indian Wells. What a journey.

1 Reply

@engineer,

the croatian is giving her a run for her money...

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Serena Williams Announces Retirement

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