“I have never liked the word ‘retirement,‘” Williams wrote. “Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is ‘evolution.’’
“But I’ve been reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing tennis,” Williams wrote in Vogue “Alexis, my husband, and I have hardly talked about it; it’s like a taboo topic. I can’t even have this conversation with my mom and dad. It’s like it’s not real until you say it out loud. It comes up, I get an uncomfortable lump in my throat, and I start to cry. The only person I’ve really gone there with is my therapist!”