United States tennis champion, Serena Williams on Tuesday announced that ‘the countdown has begun’ to her retirement from the sport.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, added that a time has come in her life for her to move in a different direction.

The 40-year-old said in a post on Instagram that she has to focus on being a mum and achieve her spiritual growth.

She wrote, “There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction. That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun.

“I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals, and finally discovering a different, but just exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.”

It would be recalled that between June 2019 and June 2020 Williams earned 35m dollars, of which  20m dollars came from endorsements.

At the moment, Williams’ earning and endorsement make her net worth now standing at around 250m dollars.