Obama, others celebrate Serena's great career
Williams, 40, announced her retirement in a piece published for Vogue
Former First Lady Michelle Obama congratulated Serena Williams on a great tennis career and wished her all the best in the next chapter of her life.
Williams, 40, announced her retirement in a piece published for Vogue. After being active for more than two decades, Williams is set to say goodbye to professional tennis at the US Open.
"Serena, thank you for everything that you’ve done to break barriers and to be a positive light in this world," Obama wrote on Instagram. "We’ve all watched you wear the crown of greatness with the kind of humility, grace, and integrity that all of us can aspire to.
It has meant so much to follow your journey as an athlete, as a mother, as a business leader, and more. I wish you the best as you evolve into this next chapter. And please know that I’ll always be cheering you on!"
In her retirement message, Williams didn't really want to use the word "retirement."
Instead, Williams described what is to come as "evolving away from tennis." "I have never liked the word retirement. 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 things that are important to me. A few years ago I quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm.
Soon after that, I started a family. I want to grow that family," Williams wrote for Vogue. Williams kicked off her summer on hard courts this week in Toronto. After Toronto, Williams returns to the United States for Cincinnati and the US Open.
Tennis great Andy Roddick also described Serena as a true tennis icon and noted the 23-time Grand Slam champion's retirement means "the end of something that has been so fantastic."
“I was lucky enough to have a front row seat to the Serena show. When I was 9 and 10 years old at Rick Macci Tennis Academy and a lot of what we saw in the King Richard movie, I was right there watching it. Frankly, a lot of us at the Academy were like 'You can't actually become a professional without playing competitive matches and juniors.
Roddick added.. “All of us were second-guessing Venus and Serena for their process. They innovated with this sport, physically with their competitiveness, the way they went about becoming two of the greats of all time.
It had never been done before the way that they had done it. Credit to their father Richard for finding a way to give these two, who were girls and now women and icons of our sport, a chance to perform at the highest level. We're all better for it." Williams is playing Toronto and Cincinnati leading up to the US Open.
John Isner believes the US Open will be "quite a scene" when Serena kicks off her final tournament.
Williams captured her first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open in 1999. As expected, Williams picked the US Open as the tournament where she wants to end her stunning career. "The US Open will be quite a scene this year as we say goodbye to the (GOAT emoji).
What an amazing career that absolutely transcends the sport of tennis," Isner wrote on Twitter.
