United States tennis champion, Serena Williams, announced on Tuesday 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.”

In an exclusive piece in Vogue magazine, Williams noted that she had never liked the word ‘retirement’ but would rather go with the word ‘evolution’.

She said, “I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people.