Lights, camera, one more backhand winner down the line. It’s hard to imagine in two weeks Serena Williams playing what could be – and most likely will be – her last tennis tournament after 23 Grand Slams and decades of center court dazzling.
She announced her retirement in the latest issue of Vogue magazine, writing that she will “evolve” away from the sport to focus on her family and her career as a venture capitalist. Williams founded her own company Serena Ventures in 2014 and raised an inaugural $111 million fund this year to invest in “founders with different points of view‘ she previously told The New York Times.
When Serena Williams steps off the tennis court, she walks into an arena that is as white as the arena she just left.
LPs include CapitalG, LionTree Partners and Norwest Venture Partners, and with a team of six, the firm has already invested in 20 companies with that capital, Fortune reported.
In tennis, she and her sister, Venus Williams, helped break the color barrier for black girls who wanted to play a sport still associated with whiteness and privilege. Following the path they followed are Naomi Osaka, Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and countless others preparing for the day when they too can walk into the dazzling lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
