An honour. Many celebs took to social media to talk about Serena Williams’ last game. The tennis champion probably played her last match at the US Open in Flushing, New York on September 2, 2022 after losing to Ajla Tomljanović.
After news of her loss broke, people took to Twitter to thank Serena for her dedication and to showcase her hard work on her career. Michelle Obama tweeted: “Congratulations on an amazing career, @SerenaWilliams! How lucky we were to see a young girl from Compton grow into one of the greatest athletes of all time. I’m proud of you my friend – and can’t wait to see you continue to use your talents to change lives.” Lebron James also tweeted, “#SerenaWilliams THANK YOU 🐐!! You are so damn DOPE!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🤎” Former tennis champion Billie Jean King also cheered on Serena for her career, “Her incredible career shaped tennis history. And yet her biggest contributions are yet to come. Many Thanks,
@serenawilliams. Your journey continues. #serena #USOpen”
The tributes continued on social media as the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Magic Johnson, Shonda Rhimes, Derek Jeter and Samuel L. Jackson shared stories about Serena’s accomplishments.
In her post-game interview, Williams thanked her entire family for helping her throughout her career. “Thanks, dad. I know you’re watching,” she said, referring to her father, Richard Williams. “Thank you mom. Oh my goodness. Thank you to everyone who’s here, who’s been by my side for so many years, decades. Oh my god, literally decades. But it all started with my parents. And they deserve everything. That’s why I am really grateful to them.” She also thanked her sister Venus Williams. “I wouldn’t be Serena if Venus didn’t exist, so thank you Venus. She’s the only reason Serena Williams ever existed.” She thanked her husband Alexis Ohanian and her daughter Olympia before addressing the crowd: “It was a fun ride. It was the most incredible ride and journey I’ve ever been on, I mean, in my life. I’m just so grateful to every single person who ever said in her life go, Serena I’m just so grateful,” she said. “You brought me here.”
Serena Williams spoke about the tough decision to retire after the US Open on the September 2022 cover of Vogue. “I’ve viewed this as a transition, but I want to be careful how I use this word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Maybe evolution is the best word to describe what I intend to do,” she said. “I’m here to tell you I’m evolving away from tennis and towards other things that are important to me. A few years ago, I quietly founded Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. Shortly thereafter I started a family. I want to grow this family.” Serena married in 2017 and together they have a daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., who is usually referred to as Olympia. She confirmed her desire to expand her family. “Today, if I have to choose between building my tennis resume and building my family, I’ll choose the latter.”
She addressed her streak of Grand Slams and her satisfaction with retiring after that year. “I know there’s a fan fantasy that I tied up Margaret that day in London, then maybe broke her record in New York and then said at the awards ceremony, ‘See you!’ I get that. It’s a good fantasy. But I’m not looking for a ceremonial, final moment on the pitch. I’m terrible at goodbyes, the worst in the world. But please know that I am more grateful to you than I can ever put into words.”
Although she remains one of the greatest tennis players of all time and her tennis career may be over, she is just getting started. “Over the years, I hope people see me as a symbol of something bigger than tennis. I admire Billie Jean for excelling at her sport. I want it to be like this: Serena is this and she is that and she was a great tennis player and she won these slams.
King Richard is available to stream on HBO Max. Here’s how to watch it for free.
Image: Courtesy of Atria.
To learn more about Serena and Venus Williams, read their father Richard Williams’ 2017 memoir, Black and White: The Way I See It. The book follows Richard’s life from his impoverished childhood in Shreveport, Louisiana in the 1940s years to father of two of the greatest tennis players of all time: Serena and Venus Williams. . “I still feel very close to my father,” Serena says in the book. “We have a great relationship. There is an appreciation. There’s a closeness because of what we’ve been through together and a respect.” Black and White: The Way I See It is described as a story about how a “self-made man” with an “irresistible spirit” does everything for himself and made his family possible.
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