After tearful tributes and a big farewell at the 2022 US Open, tennis legend Serena Williams is now setting the record straight on the status of her competitive career.
According to CBS Sports, while speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, the four-time Olympic gold medalist said, “I’m not retired. The chances [of me returning] are very high. You can come to my house, I got a court. I got you.”
Serena has made it very clear that she is not a fan of the word retirement, so I can’t be too surprised that she wants everyone to know she’s not completely done. However, in the Vogue profile where she announced she was “evolving away from tennis,” it certainly sounded like she was focused on more important things. A lot of her post-tennis plans include her investment company Serena Ventures, which she was at the conference to discuss.
“I started this company a while ago, so I just jumped right into that,” Williams said at the conference. “I didn’t even think about the whole retirement.”
In her final run at the 2022 US Open, Serena’s game looked the best it had in years, so it makes sense that she feels like she might still have a chance at that elusive 24th Grand Slam.
“I did go on the court the other day and [realized] for the first time in my life that I’m not playing for a competition and that felt very weird,” the 23-time Grand Slam champion said. “It was like the first day of the rest of my life, and so far, I am enjoying it. But I’m still trying to find that balance.”
As a tennis fan, I was sad to see Serena go, but I was also happy that she was leaving on her terms, something not all athletes get to do. Frankly, all these comments about not being retired and possibly returning to the sport feel like they’re coming from someone who’s dealing with a major life change, and is still figuring out how to reconcile their decision.