Serena Williams will apparently end her extraordinary tennis career shortly.
This indicated the 40-year-old 23-time Grand Slam winner on Instagram.
"There are moments in life when you have to decide to go in a different direction," the American wrote next to a picture of the September issue of Vogue magazine, whose cover she graces: "Gosh, I'm happy at tennis.
But now the countdown has started.”
Williams does not give an exact time for their last match.
But she writes that she will enjoy the next few weeks, wants to focus on her role as a mother in the future and wants to discover another, "simply exciting" Serena.
"Light at the end of the tunnel"
The next highlight is the US Open on August 29, which Williams won twice.
She is currently serving in Toronto and was able to celebrate her first win in 14 months.
"I think there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
And I'm getting closer to that light.
I can't wait to go through it," said the former world number one.
Williams defeated lucky loser Nuria Parrizas-Diaz from Spain in the first round of the WTA tournament in the Canadian metropolis 6: 3, 6: 4.
It was her first win on the court since the French Open in 2021. "I know I won't play forever, even if I love it," said the former world number one, "so you have to enjoy every moment and do your best."
The victory against Parrizas-Diaz was not as easy for her as the result suggested.
The match lasted 2:01 hours, their victorious game alone 25 minutes to equalize 4:4 in the second set.
The next opponent of Serena Williams at the US Open preparatory tournament is the Swiss Olympic champion Belinda Bencic or Tereza Martincova from the Czech Republic.
At Wimbledon, Williams failed early on in her attempt to return to the tour after a year's break, losing in round one to French outsider Harmony Tan.