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Serena Williams recently announced her retirement to dedicate more time to her family. However, there is something she has been focusing on for a few years besides tennis.
During a conversation with Selena Gomez for her mental health platform, Wondermind, the pair discussed how to stay mentally in shape.
“Mental fitness for me is just really learn[ing] to shut down,” Williams said. “And you know I did this years ago before even mental health was a topic among everyone’s mind.”
“It was more just like, alright, I’m shutting myself down today. Just subconsciously, it was something I’ve always done,” she continued. “And so now that I know that it’s so important just to put yourself first, especially mentally, I always have shut down moments. I have serious boundaries and I don’t let anyone cross those boundaries.”
The 40-year-old athlete said she is working on prioritizing herself. “For me, it’s so important to make sure, every day, I have a period of, like ... it’s so bad because I really don’t do anything for me, I’m terrible at that! And I’ve said it time and time again – I’m working on it. But more or less, at least prioritizing what I need to do,” added Williams. “And then when I’m turned off, I’m turned off.”
Earlier this month, Serena Williams announced she is farewelling the sport that gave her worldwide recognition. The athlete who ranked the world’s No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association for 319 weeks informed in Vogue’s latest issue that she will “evolve away from tennis” after the 2022 US Open. According to Williams, her retirement decision is to focus on “other things that are important to me.”
The 23-time grand slam winner said she will give her all at the US Open, and after it is over, she will be moving “in a different direction.”
“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me,” Serena told Vogue. “I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis toward other things that are important to me.”
She continued: “Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready to win Wimbledon this year. And I don’t know if I will be ready to win New York. But I’m going to try.”