Serena Williams Plans to Retire From Tennis Following This Year’s US Open

“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,” she explained.

“I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”

“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,” she wrote.

Williams acknowledged that she dreads life after her time on the courts at Flushing Meadows, despite her emphasis on her and her family’s future.

“There is no happiness in this topic for me. I know it’s not the usual thing to say, but I feel a great deal of pain,” she shared. “It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate it. I hate that I have to be at this crossroads.”

“I keep saying to myself, I wish it could be easy for me, but it’s not. I’m torn: I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time, I’m ready for what’s next.”