"Tennis was chosen for me and I loved that choice; now, for the first time in my entire life, I'm choosing to do something" - Serena Williams on her plans and ambitions following her retirement from tennis
Serena Williams is eagerly looking forward to life post-retirement as she will, for the first time, have the freedom to pick and choose what she wants to pursue.
The 40-year-old recently announced her plans to retire from tennis once the US Open wraps up this year. She wrote about her reasons for making the decision in an article for Vogue magazine.
Speaking to Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, on an episode of the Archetypes podcast, Williams stated her excitement at doing different things once she hangs up her racquet. While she was glad that tennis was thrust upon her, she stated that she was equally happy to enter the next chapter of her life.
"Tennis was chosen for me and I loved that choice and I couldn't have made a better choice, right? So I was really happy that that happened," she said.
"But now, for the first time in my entire life, I'm choosing to do something. And it's hard because it's like. It's something I've actually never done. I’ve always done something different, and I've always enjoyed it so much. But I'm making a different choice and one, you know, to stop doing what I love and to have, hopefully, have more kids and to, and to focus on other things and to do more with, you know, other stuff that I want to do," she added.
In Vogue’s September issue, @serenawilliams prepares to say farewell to tennis on her own terms and in her own words. “It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine,” she says. “I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next” vogue.cm/g773XK3 https://t.co/YtGtcc18a9
Serena Williams wants to grow her family and focus on her business post-retirement
In her retirement announcement, Serena Williams revealed her plans to have a second child with her husband Alexis Ohanian. She stated that retirement was the only way she could embark on a new chapter in her life.
The American tennis legend, who gave birth to daughter Olympia in September 2017, expressed her desire to expand her family but made it clear that she does not wish to become pregnant while still playing.
"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. I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out," Williams wrote in her Vogue article.
Besides having another child, the 23-time Grand Slam champion is also very keen to expand her venture capital firm 'Serena Ventures'.
"In my own life, the balance has been slowly shifting toward Serena Ventures. Every morning, I'm so excited to walk downstairs to my office and jump onto Zooms and start reviewing decks of companies we're considering investing in," she said.
She founded the San Francisco-based 'Serena Ventures' in 2014 and already has a portfolio of 60 companies including SendWave, MasterClass, and Daily Harvest, to name a few.