The athlete hopes to use her retirement to hone her mom skills
Serena Williams has been making headlines for years, but recently, the tennis star has been chatting about one topic in particular: retirement. The 40-year-old mom of one, who is arguably the greatest female athlete of all time, has decided to hang up her racket after the U.S. Open this year.
The transition away from being a professional athlete has Williams thinking not only about all the free time she’ll have to spend with family but how different things are for male athletes. While her counterparts can easily add to their family without missing more than a game or two, that’s just not an option for women.
“It comes to a point where women sometimes have to make different choices than men, if they want to raise a family,” Williams tells TIME. “It’s just black and white. You make a choice or you don’t.”
While she tells TIME that she’s made peace with her decision, the fact that four-year-old daughter Olympia wants to be a big sister pretty much sealed the deal. “There is no anger,” she says. “I’m ready for the transition.”
So what does she plan to do now that she won’t be swinging her racket on the daily? In addition to focusing on her investment firm, Serena Ventures, she plans to grow in her role as a mom.
“I think I’m good at it,” she says about parenthood. “But I want to explore if I can be great at it.” As a woman who’s won 23 Grand Slams, we have every ounce of faith that her journey to parenting greatness will be an epic one.
It’s also a good reminder that, celeb or not, we all want to be the best parent we can be.
