Serena Williams' colleagues kicked off her retirement celebration in the United States. On Friday, the tennis legend will be honored before what is expected to be her final Grand Slam.
The 40-year-old American tennis superstar announced her retirement after the year's last major, having won 23 Grand Slam titles and transforming the sport, inspiring a generation of women and girls to play tennis, as reported by Reuters.
Poland's world number one and two-time French Open winner Iga Swiatek told sports journalists: "For me, it's still pretty surreal when I see her. "I still feel like I'm just a kid who's watching. I watched her my whole life."
Williams begins her US Open campaign on Monday against Montenegro's Danka Kovinic, and the winner might face second seed Anett Kontaveit.
An Outstanding Role Model
Last year's Canadian finalist Leylah Fernandez remarked Serena Williams taught her how to be tough. "She showed me how to be strong, how to be independent, how to fight for what you believe in, fight for your dreams.
"She's set out a good path for all of the WTA players, even the ATP players," added Fernandez, who faces France's Oceane Dodin in the first round of the tournament.
Williams was outcasted from the start of her professional career because of her extraordinary emergence in the predominantly white sport - a Black girl who honed her formidable skills on the public tennis courts of Compton, California, far from the privileged private clubs that nurtured the majority of US players.
Even as a youngster, her reaction to the establishment's racism, animosity, and undermining earned her a role model for Black Americans.
In her final US Open, sports commentators will evaluate Willam's standing as one of the greatest athletes in history. Whatever happens in her final season, Serena Williams' icon status on and off the court, and her legacy on the Black community, will be everlasting.
Elle Duncan, an anchor for ESPN's SportsCenter, underscored Williams' guts that made her an icon.
"Most Black folks, they understand the sacrifices. If they can't pull apart your game, they will find other reasons: your braids, your hair, your attitude, your body type, the clothes that you wear," she noted per AP News.
"It was always about that with Serena, because it was never about her tennis," Duncan added.
Serena To Focus on Family, Business Ventures
Serena Williams revealed in early August that she would retire from tennis after this year's US Open.
She stated in a Vogue piece that she wants to concentrate on raising her family. Williams also wants to devote more time to her second passion, start-up investing, as she prepares to retire from tennis.
Williams wrote: "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."
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