As Serena Williams made her way off the court in the Rod Laver Arena after a third-round loss to Qiang Wang, you couldn’t help but wonder if indeed that was that for the 38-year-old. The numbers suggest it might be and so does the current lingering hiatus that separates her from her last Grand Slam win. It has been over three years since Williams last won a Grand Slam during the 2017 Australian Open.
On that occasion, Serena thoroughly beat her older sister Venus in straight sets. During that final, the seven-time Grand Slam winner was very much in the last throes of her career and it showed. In actual fact, Venus had enjoyed an unforeseen run during the 2017 event, surprising everyone to get to the final but many feared beating her younger sister was just a bridge too far. It certainly was as she beat the aging Venus 6-4 6-4. What’s more impressive is that Serena was two months pregnant at the time.
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) September 1, 2018
It seems Venus is now in the position her older sister was in back at the 2017 Australian Open. Not quite the same player and reliant on all the chips falling her way in order to make a run at a title. You could argue that Venus wasn’t even half the player that her sister is given that Serena has won more than three times the number of Grand Slams that Venus won. So does this suggest Serena can enjoy more success in the latter part of her career?
There’s no guarantee of that happening and the longer the wait for a win goes on, the closer retirement and pursuing business interests seem. Make no mistake, Serena Williams is an incredibly shrewd businesswoman who will enjoy an extremely successful second act once the curtain comes down on her playing career. The tennis star now also has a young family after giving birth in September 2017 and it would only be natural for priorities to change now that she has moved onto another chapter in her life. It’s these developments that do bring retirement to the forefront of the minds of professional sportspeople.
When exactly any retirement will be is the question but interestingly enough, Serena Willians is at just 8/1 in the latest tennis odds to win the French Open in May. Could she indeed have one last hurrah in her or are those odds based on her historic greatness?
Serena has been eliminated.
No. 27 Qiang Wang upsets No. 8 Serena Williams in the third round of the #AusOpen — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 24, 2020
You’re drawn into thinking it is indeed the latter because her powers are quite clearly waning now she is on the doorstep of 40. But that’s not all either, the new-generation coming through in the women’s game are seriously talented and currently proving just too much for Serena.
Indeed, it wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if Serena Williams announced her retirement in 2020 as life off the court begins to take up more and more of her time. It wouldn’t be a surprise by any means but it would be very sad to see the back of one of the greatest players the women’s game has ever seen. We’re unlikely to see anything like the greatness that has been on show for the last 20 years and will always look back fondly on the career of this modern-day legend. The end may be nigh but the journey is only just beginning for Serena Williams.
