When it comes to the retirement of elite athletes, the phrase “never say never” is extremely relevant. Fans saw that with Tom Brady’s retirement and return just weeks later, and now Serena Williams is hinting at a similar potential path.
Coinciding with an appearance on the September cover of Vogue, Williams discussed her impending retirement in August, ahead of her appearance at the U.S. Open, where she advanced to the third round and knocked out world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit in an incredible second-round match.
Williams performed very well despite playing very little tennis this year in the lead-up to the Open. While she seems focused on “evolving from tennis,” as she has referred to retirement, after her loss to Ajla Tomljanović, she said that she doesn’t think she’ll play professionally again, but “you never know. I don’t know.”
That intrigue continued on Wednesday morning, with Williams’s appearance on Good Morning America. When asked whether she might be compelled back to play doubles with her older sister Venus Williams again, Serena cited Tom Brady’s quick unretirement this offseason as a potential influence.
“I’ve just been saying that I think that Tom Brady started a really cool trend, you know… and the way he did it, a few weeks.”
Whether or not she has played her final match, it’s pretty clear that Williams will be involved in the tennis world in some capacity moving forward.
“Tennis has given me so much, and I feel like there’s no way that I don’t want to be involved in tennis in somehow in the future. I don’t know what that involvement is yet, but I do know that I love the sport so much, I love the game, I love everything about it. It’s just been such a light in my life, that I definitely want to keep something involved in there.”
