Kim Kardashian & others react to news of Serena Williams bidding farewell to tennis career

As the tennis legend, Serena Williams made a formal announcement of her quitting her career to "enjoy moments in life" adding that she is eventually stepping away from tennis to focus on the family, several prominent personalities including  Kim Kardashian and Gabrielle Union reacted to the news. The 23-time women's singles Grand Slam champion told Vogue that while she never wanted to "have to choose" between tennis and a family she is turning 41 this month, and "something’s got to give." 

"I don’t think it’s fair. 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," the Tennis star Serena Williams told Vogue.

She then asserted that she ha been reluctant to admit that she "has to move on from playing tennis. It’s like a taboo topic." 

'I’m evolving away from tennis..': Serena Williams 

Serena Williams in her piece published by Vogue stated that she has gone through an evolution. "I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me," she told her fans and wellwishers. "There is no happiness in this topic for me. I know it’s not the usual thing to say, but I feel a great deal of pain," she further said. Williams also reflected on what she described as the "new chapter of her life" in an Instagram post shared alongside her powerful Vogue cover shoot. “There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction,” she captioned the post. “That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness, I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun," she added. 

Reacting to her post, celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Nicola Anne Peltz-Beckham, and fellow tennis player Caroline Wozniacki hailed her decision. Kim Kardashian shared William's post-making goat and flowers emojis. Goat is a reference to a highly-popular phrase of the 'greatest of all time.' 'Can't wait to see what's next friend,' said Gabrielle Union. Sports broadcaster Cari Champion hailed Williams saying that her contribution to Tennis has been great and that she had “done so much for American tennis, the sport, women in sports and for the collective.” 

“Your presence and excellence is invaluable. I’m not ready either but you will always remain the GREAT ONE,” she said.

Culture reporter Gibson Johns hailed Serena, saying “My hero. We’ll miss seeing you on the courts. Thank you for all of the memories and thank you for changing the world.” “I truly can’t imagine tennis without Serena Williams. End of an absolutely incredible era,” said ESPN writer D’Arcy Maine. Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder, who had been married to her since 2017 reshared her post on his own Instagram.