Serena Williams says ‘allowing myself to relax… was harder than I thought’ as she spends her first holiday season in retirement rather than planning for the Australian Open
Usually around this time of year, Serena Williams is preparing for January’s Australian Open and it looks like she’s having a hard time filling the extra time on her hands.
After an emotional farewell to tennis at the US Open in August and September, the 41-year-old is adjusting to life away from the court.
But with the next major on the tennis calendar and extra downtime during the holidays, he took to Twitter to admit that retired life isn’t easy.
‘I’m currently letting myself get tired,’ she wrote. ‘Allowing myself to relax. I just let myself be. It was harder than I thought. I never allowed myself to do any of that before…’
Serena Williams admits she has struggled to relax as she adjusts to life after tennis
The 41-year-old took to Twitter on Wednesday to admit his struggles with the extra downtime
Earlier on Wednesday, he posted a photo with his daughter Olympia and wife Alexis, saying how they threw their five-year-old a surprise party.
‘Sometimes we surprise Olympia at parties,’ Williams wrote on Instagram. ‘We don’t need a reason or a special occasion we make every day as special and memorable as possible. Even her mom is fast…..’
Williams announced her retirement in a Vogue article in August and said it was in part because she wanted another child.
‘I didn’t like the word retirement. It doesn’t seem like a modern word to me,’ he said. ‘I’m here to tell you that I’m moving away from tennis, towards other things that are important to me.
‘I didn’t want to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a man, I wouldn’t be writing this because I would be out playing and winning while my wife does the physical labor of expanding our family. But I’m 41 this month, and something’s got to give.’
Despite taking time off after the US Open, Williams said she could return to the court one day but her latest tweet about allowing herself to rest also appeared to end any suggestion she could play at the Australian Open next. that month.
Williams, 41, retired from tennis in September after playing in the US Open
Williams said earlier Wednesday that she threw a surprise party for daughter Olympia
Speaking at a tech event in San Francisco in October, 23-time Major winner Williams said: ‘I’m not retired.
‘The chances (that I will return) are very high. You can come to my house and see that I have a court.
I still haven’t really thought about it. But I went to the court the other day and realized for the first time in my life that I was not playing for a competition and that was very strange.
‘It’s like the first day of the rest of my life, and right now, I’m enjoying it. But I’m still trying to find that balance.’
