The Student Online Publication of The King's Academy

The Lion Ledger

The Student Online Publication of The King's Academy

The Lion Ledger

The Student Online Publication of The King's Academy

The Lion Ledger

Serena William’s Farewell to Tennis

Serena+Williams
John Minchillo
Serena Williams

The retirement of Serena Williams truly shook the world to its core. Serena Williams is one of the best players of all time or the “GOAT” as others may say. She became a professional player that the age of 14, winning her very first Grand Slam only a mere 3 years later. Serena Williams’ high level of play over a very long career combined with her record of 23-10 in Grand Slam finals, certainly makes the case that she is the greatest of all time more convincing.
“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.” As she stated, retirement was a very hard and life-changing decision that Serena Williams’ felt it was time to do, even though the world ultimately did not agree with her decision, they came to realize that this is evolution. Serena found no happiness when announcing or even thinking about the topic of retirement, but she strongly believed that it was her time to move on. One of the main reasons that she ultimately decided it was time to move on from tennis was the thought that she and her husband, Alexis, wanted to have another child. “I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete.” As you can imagine this was probably a very difficult thing to have a baby and then come back to tennis a few months later. Although Serena doesn’t plan to completely leave the tennis life, she plans on taking a break for a little until she can decide what she wants to do with her life.
Over 27 years, Serena Williams dominated generation after generation of opponents and changed the way women’s tennis is played and the sport of tennis will never be the same without her. Her long and very successful career should only bring her joy in what she has been able to accomplish against all odds. With an amazing record and with many trophies to show for it, she makes the case for the greatest women’s player to ever play the sport of tennis.

About the Contributor
Sandra Watson, Contributor
Sandra Watson is a senior at The King’s Academy, where she is currently in her eighth year. Aside from fulfilling her dream in journalism, she is very involved in the school’s athletic program. Sandra plays tennis for The King’s Academy, as well as being involved in photography and many of the school’s clubs. She really enjoys telling a story with pictures and is very glad that journalism and photography are closely related so that she can pursue both of her passions! In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her friends, travel, take photos and play tennis whenever she can. A fun fact about her is that she loves traveling to the Bahamas, where her relatives live. She especially loves to write about the elementary students and the sports programs at TKA. Sandra is a fantastic fourth-year contributor to the online paper and is excited to be writing for The Lion Ledgeragain.