In a recent candid interview with TIME Magazine, Serena Williams reflected on her decision to retire from tennis, her farewell and her legacy, among other things.
Retirement
Earlier this month, Serena Williams announced that she would be retiring and hanging up the tennis racket for good after a career that spanned 27 years. The tennis icon is considered one of the world’s most decorated athletics of all time so her announcement came as a shock to many, and in the interview with TIME Magazine’s Sean Gregory, she opened up about her thoughts about her legacy, motherhood and next steps.
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Family First
During the interview, Williams opened up about her personal life and the impact of motherhood on her decision to retire. The 40-year-old shared that her soon-to-be five-year-old daughter Olympia was ecstatic when she learned that she would be leaving tennis, She also said that it was hard to fully remain devoted to tennis, knowing that her daughter was not a fan of her being away. According to the TIME article, this led her down a path of examining the sacrifices she has made over the course of her career and re-evaluating what is truly important.
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An Unbalanced Scale
Williams also shed some light on the challenges of life in the limelight as a successful woman and mother. Like many successful women in the limelight who have had to take some time off at some point to focus on their families and personal lives, it seems like Williams too, faced the same predicament.
In “It comes to a point where women sometimes have to make different choices than men, if they want to raise a family,” said Williams. “It’s just black and white. You make a choice or you don’t.”
The article pointed out the imbalance that often exists for men in similar industries and how the scales fall in favor of men in many instances related to work and family.
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At Peace
Williams helped to revolutionize beauty standards, especially as they related to dark-skinned Black women. Because she was the brunt of many racially-charged discussions and still remained grounded in her talent and greatness, it empowered man Black women. Regarding her decision to retire, Williams shared that “there is no anger,” and she was “ready for the transition.” She also said that she would be focussing on her investment firm Serena Ventures as well as focus on parenting. The tennis epic also has a clothing line as well. Williams is scheduled to play in her first US Open match today against Danka Kovinic.