Serena Williams, the United States tennis champion, announced on Tuesday that she will retire from tennis after the 2022 U.S Open.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner added that a time has come in her life for her to move in a different direction.

The 40-year-old disclosed in a post on her Instagram page that she is looking forward to spending more time with Olympia, her daughter, and Alexis Ohanian, her husband.

Serena Williams wrote, “There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction. That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun.

“I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals, and finally discovering a different, but just exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.

Williams in a chat with Vogue Magazine cited that she never liked the word ‘retirement’ but would rather go with the word evolution.’

“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people.

“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,” she said.