Why Serena Williams Took A Break From Tennis

Speaking to Bradley Cooper at the A+E Networks and History Channel’s History Talks event on Saturday, Serena explained that she just felt like she “needed to stop.”

“I always said I wanted to stop when I’m playing really good tennis and winning and beating good players,” she continued, per Variety. “For me, it’s really about things I want to do spiritually and spending time with my daughter and family.”

Serena shared that as a “hands-on mom,” she’d struggled to be away from her daughter, Olympia, once she returned to the sport in 2017.

“As a super hands-on mom, I can’t tell you how hard it was,” Serena said. “I lost so many matches after I had Olympia because it was so hard to be on the court. I feel like I’ve given so much of my life to tennis, my entire life, that it’s time to do something different for me and also work on other things.”

But that’s not to say that she won’t return one day. When asked about the possibility of un-retiring, Serena said: “I feel like if I want to come back, I definitely can still come back.”