Serena Williams' father, Richard Williams, revealed that he wanted his daughter to play a few more WTA tournaments.
Williams bid farewell to tennis at last year's US Open. In the second round, she caused a significant upset against the No. 2 seed, Anett Kontaveit, but she lost in three sets to Ajla Tomljanovic, ending her illustrious career.
The tennis legend won 23 singles Grand Slams and spent 319 weeks at world No. 1. Because of these achievements, she is widely considered the greatest women's tennis player in the sport's history.
Williams also secured 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and three Olympic gold meals alongside her sister Venus Williams, a legend in her own right, having won seven major singles titles throughout her career.
Their father, Richard Williams, played a pivotal role in their success with the coaching he gave them as kids. His daughters' development into tennis legends despite not coming from wealthy backgrounds is one of the most inspiring sports stories.
Richard was once the subject of controversy after being accused of deciding who would win the 1999 Miami Open final between Venus and Serena, won by Venus in three sets. However, Richard has strongly refuted those allegations and said he would never tell his daughters to throw a match.
Serena's father told The Sun he wanted her to play a few more tournaments. Although Serena felt she was capable of doing so, the 41-year-old wanted to step away from professional tennis for good.
"I wanted her to play at least a couple more tournaments. She said no, she won't do it. I asked Serena about maybe six weeks ago, two months ago, probably. But she's done a great deal, she has lots of other businesses and is very successful."
"I said, 'Why don't you play?' She said, 'I could. I think I could win, but I can't do it no more. Yeah, I won't do it no more.'"