Serena Williams entered the counting period – Sport – Kommersant

One of the best tennis players in history, 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams has announced that her career is coming to an end. The American did not specify exactly when she intends to part with tennis, but it is possible that this will happen after the US Open, which starts on August 29.

On Tuesday, Serena Williams announced that the countdown to the end of her career has begun. 40-year-old athlete (she will turn 41 in September) in an article published in the publication vogueas well as in a message posted on her Instagram page (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia), said that she realized the need to start a new chapter in her life.

“There comes a time when you need to decide where to go next. It’s always very difficult, especially when you love what you do so much. God, how I love tennis! — said in a post Williams in the social network. But the countdown has begun. I have to focus on being a good mother, on my development and finally on discovering another but equally interesting Serena. I intend to enjoy the next few weeks.”

Williams also noted that she intends to give birth to another child (at the moment she has a daughter, Olympia), but does not want to do this, torn between the court and the family.

Note that Serena Williams began her professional career back in 1995. She turned out brilliant. During her performances, Williams won 23 Grand Slam tournaments (the last victory was won in 2017 at the Australian Open). Before repeating the absolute record of Margaret Smith Court, she lacked only one title.

However, it should be noted that the Australian won her victories for the most part before the Open Era (started in 1968) and almost half (11) of the main titles she got at the home Australian Open, which many players missed in those years. Simply because of the remoteness of the Australian continent. But Serena Williams herself admitted that she would be lying if she said that she was not worried that she did not repeat the record of Margaret Court Smith. “Of course I wanted this record. But now I don’t think about it. If I suddenly get into the final of the Grand Slam tournament, then I’ll think about it. Maybe the problem was that I thought too much about statistics. It seems to me that I could well have won 30 tournaments, ”said Serena Williams. However, it is hardly worth expecting any big victories from Williams. Now she is playing at a tournament in Toronto, she made it to the second round and this is her first victory in more than a year.

Arnold Kabanov