Serena Williams has seemingly dropped a major clue as to her desire to keep on playing, with talks over her retirement refusing to subside.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner turns 41 in September, and has featured sporadically over the past few years.
However, after making a remarkable return to tennis at Wimbledon last month following a lengthy absence, she claimed her first singles match victory on the WTA Tour in 430 days last night. Williams convincingly dispatched of Spain’s Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-4, 6-3 at the National Bank Open in Canada, putting an end to a winless run stretching back to the French Open in 2021.
Despite cruising to a comfortable win, she spoke to the press after the match in which she expressed her increasing desire to bring the curtain down on an illustrious career in the very near future.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Serena Williams pic.twitter.com/r9eMIYUaRF
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) August 8, 2022
“I guess there’s just a light at the end of the tunnel,” Williams said afterwards.
“I don’t know, I’m getting closer to the light. Lately that’s been it for me. I can’t wait to get to that light. I love playing though, so it’s amazing. But I can’t do this forever. So sometimes you just want to try your best to enjoy the moments and do the best that you can.”
“I was happy to have a win. It’s been a very long time. I forgot what it felt like.
“I felt like I competed well and I think that’s what I needed to do is just to compete. Mentally I feel I’m getting there. I’m not where I normally am and I’m not where I want to be. But I think any match that I play, whether I win or lose, it helps me get there.”
Conversations regarding both Williams sisters have intensified in recent months as they feature infrequently on the tour, and with both now entering their early 40’s, the Candian Open’s tournament chief Karl Hale added further fuel to the rumours. He said: “The two of them have a really special place with me and I have a very close relationship with them.
“They’ve done so much for this sport and we want to give them a great last experience in Toronto… The fans have reacted just incredibly since we announced that they’re playing, and ticket sales have gone through the roof. It’s just tremendous for us to have them here in Toronto.”
Serena Williams will have to wait and see who she is up against in the round of 32, but she is next in action on Wednesday 10th August.
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