After a decades-long career full of unforgettable wins and iconic accomplishments, Serena Williams has announced that she is ready to step away from competitive tennis.
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The 23-grand slam champion has been the face of tennis since winning her first U.S. Open in 1999.
Now, two decades later, the star is using the very same tournament that catapulted her into stardom as her last competition. The tournament, which takes place in New York, runs from 29 August to 11 September.
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The Olympian used none other than Vogue's epic September Issue to announce the bittersweet news, looking like Botticelli's Venus as she posed on the beach at sunset, donning a blue, form-fitting Balenciaga gown, and its lengthy train is being held at the end by her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian.
In the as-told-to story, the athlete admits: "I have never liked the word retirement," explaining that: "It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me."
She maintained: "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.
The star looks iconic
"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."
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Serena was candid about what the future holds for her, revealing that her 4-year-old daughter with Alexis Ohanian has actually been begging to be an older sibling, to a sister specifically, and she joked: "She doesn't want anything to do with a boy!"
© Photo: Getty ImagesSerena revealed she is planning to expand her family
"I'm the youngest of five sisters myself, and my sisters are my heroes, so this has felt like a moment I need to listen very carefully to," she admitted.
She confessed that she has definitely taken note, and gave an exciting update, revealing: "In the last year, Alexis and I have been trying to have another child, and we recently got some information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family."
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