After recently playing her last professional tennis match at the U.S Open earlier in September, Serena Williams admits she wouldn’t be opposed to playing tennis again.
In a conversation with actor Bradley Cooper at the A+E Networks and the History Channel History Talks event in Washington D.C. on 24 September, Serena Williams hinted she might return to tennis in the future.
“I feel like if I want to come back, I definitely can still come back,” Serena told Bradley Cooper, according to Variety.
For now, the 23-time Grand Slam champ, 40, is stepping away from tennis to focus on her family. “I just needed to stop,” she said. “I always said I wanted to stop when I’m playing really good tennis and winning and beating good players. For me, it’s about things I want to do spiritually and spend time with my daughter and family.”
She continued, “As a super hands-on mom, I can’t tell you how hard it was. I lost so many matches after I had (daughter) Olympia because it was so hard to be on the court. I feel like I’ve given so much of my life to tennis, my entire life, that it’s time to do something different for me and work on other things.”
In August, Serena announced her retirement from sports after one last tournament.
“I have never liked the word retirement,” the four-time Olympic gold medalist wrote in a cover story for Vogue’s September 2022 issue. “It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. 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 important things to me.”
She added, “There is no happiness in this topic for me. I know it’s not the usual thing to say, but I feel great pain. It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate that I have to be at this crossroads. I keep telling myself I wish it could be easy, 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.”
Serena played what was believed to be her final professional match on 2 September 2022 at the U.S. Open. She lost to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic after battling it out over three intense sets.
Serena thanked her parents in her post-match interview. “Thank you, Daddy. I know you’re watching,” she said amid tears. “Thanks, Mom. Oh, my God.”
She added, “I thank everyone that’s here, that’s been on my side so many years, decades. Oh, my gosh, literally decades. But it all started with my parents. And they deserve everything. So I’m grateful for them.”
Serena went on to thank her big sister Venus for standing with her. “I wouldn’t be Serena if there weren’t Venus, so thank you, Venus. She’s the only reason Serena Williams ever existed,” she said.
However, the tennis star may not be gone forever.
On 1 September, Serena made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where Fallon asked about her retirement.
“There’s no chance of pulling a Tom Brady?” Fallon, 48, questioned her, referencing the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s short-lived retirement earlier this year.
“You know what? Tom Brady started a notable trend,” Serena responded. “That’s what I’m gonna say.”
After watching the Interview, Serena’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, comically called out Brady for giving her wife the ‘idea.’ “Dude, @TomBrady, I’m trying to plan a family vacation over winter break here …” Ohanian tweeted.