Serena Williams "torn" on retirement U-turn with her back playing tennis

14 February 2023 , 08:21

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Serena Williams retired from tennis last September (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Serena Williams has admitted she is "torn" on whether to come out of retirement after revealing that she has picked up her racket again. The American called time on her remarkable career last September following her final appearance at the US Open.

In a statement prior to last year's event at Flushing Meadows, she cited family reasons as the motive behind her decision. Williams said: "I have never liked the word retirement

"Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”

Five months on though, the 23-time singles Grand Slam champion has revealed that she has had some second thoughts during her retirement. Speaking to E!, she admitted: "I for sure feel more at peace now. It's interesting. I think I feel torn because I'm still able to play at a very, very, very high level."

Williams did reveal she is slowly but surely moving herself away from the tennis arena, but still has the bug to be out playing on a tennis court. "With that being said, I always wanted to leave the game playing at a very high level," she went on.

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Serena Williams revealed she has picked up her racket again (Getty Images)

"I also wanted to walk away when I'm healthy and have a quality of life. But I'm inch by inch leaning away, inch by inch embracing it. I was playing earlier when I first retired because it was hard to do it cold turkey.

"But lately, I haven't played so much. And I miss it. I'm like, 'Oh my goodness. I gotta get out there'. But it's hard for me to get out there. I did play the other day, and it's just like, 'There's no way I shouldn't be playing professional tennis'. Like, there's literally no excuse.

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Serena and her sister Venus have become tennis icons (Getty Images)

"But I mean, I guess there is an excuse, right? It's hard because when I'm playing I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm pretty good at this. I can continue to do this,' which not a lot of people can say." Tennis has of course dominated her life, having announced herself as one of the sport's greatest ever athletes.

Now though Williams seems keen to concentrate on some of her other ventures, commenting: "I've been playing tennis for literally my entire life," she said. "My entire being and knowing is just what I've done. So now, I'm inch by inch finding my way. Obviously, I love other businesses that I've done. But just inch by inch leaning into that and leaning into my family and leaning into just having fun."

Joshua Lees