Some might have expected Serena Williams to be living a quieter life since retiring, but the opposite is true.
Williams bid farewell to tennis at the 2022 US Open after losing in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic. It was one of the most emotional goodbyes in tennis history in front of her home fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Serena won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, an Olympic gold medal, and spent 319 weeks as the World No. 1. She is widely regarded as the best female player due to those phenomenal achievements throughout her career.
The tennis legend also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals alongside her sister Venus Williams, a legend in her own right. They were an unstoppable team when both were near their best.
Serena and Venus had to put being siblings to one side during several high-profile matches against each other in singles, including multiple Grand Slam finals. Although Serena had a winning record, Venus managed several victories of her own.
During a recent talk, Serena predicted she would have won 30 Grand Slam singles titles had it not been for Venus. However, she also believes Venus, who holds seven major singles crowns, would have 15 Grand Slams had it not been for her.
Although both women are legendary figures and deserve to be recognized as much, the difference in their mentality might be why Serena was more successful. The 43-year-old thinks she was born to win, while Venus had to learn that mindset.
Serena's incredible career and feeling like she was born to win means retirement has not been easy for. The seven-time Wimbledon champion admits to missing tennis like crazy and setting herself new goals to cope.
She has kept herself occupied by becoming more involved in the business world. Williams' line of beauty products is names WYN Beauty, and she also invests in other startup companies that align with her values.
In an interview with Vogue Magazine, Williams outlined how being active has a new meaning to her since retiring from tennis and that, in some ways, she is even busier than her years at the top of the WTA Tour.
“As a professional athlete, my life was simple: train, sleep, train. I wouldn’t even call it active. But now, as a mother and entrepreneur, I’m up early, in bed late, on Zoom calls all morning, playing with my kids all afternoon. Active has a whole new meaning!"
The former world No. 1 also discussed how players had to choose between being strong and beautiful during her playing career. Williams wants to change those perceptions, and is happy to be an example of someone achieving both.
“When I was playing, you could either be strong or you could be beautiful, but you couldn’t be both at the same time. I wanted to push that away and say that you can be strong, beautiful, powerful, and amazing—and you can win championships! And, by the way, here’s me doing it.”
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