Serena Williams teases tennis fans as she says ‘I’m not retired’
Serena Williams is still as explosive as ever on the tennis court.
The 24-time U.S. champion said she was “not retired” after she suffered a “really bad injury” just two years after giving birth to her daughter in 2016, but said in an Instagram Story she wouldn’t rule out a return to the sport “in the future, if not sooner.”
“I’m not retired,” Williams wrote in the Story, which has since been deleted, before adding, “I’m always ready to come back and do it again when it’s time. I’m not retiring. I really, really, really want to. I’m just not ready to.”
The U.S.–based athlete’s daughter, Olympia, was born in August 2016 and she played her first tournament just a year later, when she won the French Open in May of 2017. The 5-foot-11 former No. 1 is trying to make the most of the time she has left on the tennis court.
She was back in action at the U.S. Open, where she was one of the favorites for the title that was the first major in which she was able to return. Williams beat Serena Williams, the first Australian Open finalist in more than a century and a 15-year veteran of the sport, in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory Saturday.
“To be able to do it in New York is amazing,” Williams said. “I’m really, really honored to have that opportunity, being able to play in front of millions of people for the first time. I think we proved a lot of people wrong, and I think it’s going to be a hard match for us to win. We’re both top-five players at this point, and we’re going to have to play to the best of our ability.”
Williams was at the brink of a career-worst drought