Through an article published in ‘Vogue’, Serena Williams announced her imminent retirement from tennis. The American legend has not indicated a precise date, but has hinted that she will hang up the racket after the US Open 2022.
The former world number 1 will therefore put an end to an extraordinary career, which has made her a global icon and one of the greatest athletes ever. Barring a sensational backlash in New York, Serena won’t be able to match Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 majors.
Her last Grand Slam seal now dates back to the 2017 Australian Open, before she began her downward flight. The last two seasons have been a real ordeal for Williams, who were injured at Wimbledon last year. The 23-time Grand Slam champion returned to the London meadows in 2022, but she couldn’t make it past the first round.
As part of the ‘Higher Learning’ podcast, Rachel Lindsay paid tribute to Serena Williams and wished her the best for the future.
Rachel Lindsay reflects on Serena
“Serena Williams was never supposed to be dominating her sport.
She wasn’t. Tiger, you could almost make that argument for as well,” Rachel Lindsay said. “But for Michael Jordan, black men being great at basketball. Tom Brady, a white man being a great quarterback. I’m just saying – you know what I’m saying.
I’m not discrediting what they have done, what they have accomplished but Serena Williams was never supposed to dominate the sport of tennis. Everything was against her.” Lindsay highlighted how Williams had to fight battles on the physical and mental fronts to surmount all the odds she faced.
“So, she had to not only overcome things with a physical talent, she had to do things mentally based on (being a) black woman and her socioeconomic status,” she added. “To me, she is so inspiring. (If) she did one wrong thing, and she was hyper-criticized for anything she did – if she had an attitude, if she wore her hair in a certain way, if she wore her outfit in a certain way, her body structure, everything that she did was criticized,” Lindsay said.
Serena Williams believes that it is wrong to expect a woman to keep family as the priority over their profession. Further, she explained how it is wrong to ask someone to choose between the two. “Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family,” Williams wrote.
“I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family,” she said.
