many lucrative partnerships and sponsorships, as well as several companies of her own.
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What’s next for the tennis superstar?
Williams says after moving away from tennis, she plans on working with her venture capital firm and growing her family. The last time she won a Grand Slam title was at the Australian Open in 2017. At the time she was pregnant with her daughter, Olympia, who will be 5 next month and has been asking for a sibling for some time, according to Williams.
In her essay, Williams opened up about the unfairness placed on women to choose between their careers and having a family.
“If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family,” Williams said. “Maybe I’d be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity. Don’t get me wrong: I love being a woman, and I loved every second of being pregnant with Olympia. … But I’m turning 41 this month, and something’s got to give.”
In an Elle interview, Williams spoke about being content with being a mother first.
“(W)inning is now a desire and no longer a need,” she said. “I have a beautiful daughter at home. I still want the titles, the success, and the esteem, but it’s not my reason for waking up in the morning.”
In the essay, she also revealed her near-death experience after giving birth to her daughter that required four surgeries, including a C-section. Like most Black women, Williams had to fight for her life and advocate for herself.
“Being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death for me,” she wrote, calling attention to a chilling statistic. “In the U.S., Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during or after childbirth than their white counterparts,” Williams added. “Many of these deaths are considered by experts to be preventable.”
Next up for Williams is her second-round match in Toronto on Wednesday, in which she’ll face the winner of Tuesday’s clash between Belinda Bencic and Tereza Martincova.
With the countdown to her farewell officially started, Williams has plans to relish in the next few weeks. No matter what the next chapter holds for Williams, we have no doubt that she will dominate it much like she did tennis!