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Serena Williams has a lot of supporters, including some of the greatest athletes in the world. The 40-year-old star is playing her last US Open, and nobody wants to miss the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of seeing her playing before she retires.
Serena, who has a 27-years-long professional tennis career, has been cheered by many, most recently by golf legend Tiger Woods. The golfer was hosted in Serena’s box alongside Venus Williams and other family members and friends.
The 46-year-old golf legend and Serena are very good friends, and before retiring, she asked Woods for advice. “I said, ‘I don’t know what to do: I think I’m over it, but maybe I’m not over [tennis],’” Serena told Vogue. “He’s Tiger, and he was adamant that I be a beast the same way he is! He said, ‘Serena, what if you just gave it two weeks? You don’t have to commit to anything. You just go out on the court every day for two weeks and give it your all and see what happens.’ I said, ‘All right, I think I can do that.’”
“I went back and forth about whether to play Wimbledon and the US Open after that. As I’ve said, this whole evolution thing has not been easy for me,” she added.
The athlete who ranked the world’s No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association for 319 weeks has announced in Vogue’s latest issue that she will “evolve away from tennis.” 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.”