Serena Williams, the world’s most successful female athlete, has said she is “evolving away” from the sport she dominated for years.

The 23 grand slam winner first hinted about her retirement on her Instagram page, saying the countdown has begun to retire from tennis and focus on being a mum, expand her spiritual goals and focus on self-discovery.

“But now the countdown has begun. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks” she said.

In her latest interview with Vogue, Williams expresses her struggle over making the decision to retire from the sport, she said “I’ve been reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing tennis. Alexis, my husband, and I have hardly talked about it; it’s like a taboo topic. I can’t even have this conversation with my mom and dad. It’s like it’s not real until you say it out loud. It comes up, I get an uncomfortable lump in my throat, and I start to cry. The only person I’ve gone there with is my therapist! One thing I’m not going to do is sugarcoat this. I know that a lot of people are excited about and look forward to retiring, and I wish I felt that way. “

Williams made her singles return at Wimbledon in June after a lengthy injury lay-off that had led to speculation about her retirement.

She says she will play at the US Open, where she has won six of her major singles titles, later in August.

Williams has won more major singles titles than any female player in the Open era and the second most of all time, behind Margaret Court’s 24.

On Monday, she had her first singles win in 14 months, beating Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz to reach the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto.

“I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst. But please know that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words.”

Tobi Amusan, the Nigerian world record holder in 100m hurdles, has broken the commonwealth games record with a 12.30s run in Birmingham, United Kingdom on Sunday.

Tobi entered the race with a 12.12s world record set in Oregon, U.S just three weeks ago. The 25-year-old Nigerian ran 12.40s to dominate Round 1 Heat 3 to qualify for the finals.

On Sunday, she ran a massive 12.30s to lead the two Jamaicans, Australian, England, and other athletes that participated in the race.

Amusan began the 2022 season in fine form, winning the 2022 Diamond League event in Paris, where she set an African record by 0.01s with a time of 12.41s.

She followed that up with another great performance when she won the gold medal in the 100m hurdles at the 2022 African Championships in Mauritius, defending her title successfully with a time of 12.57s. She also competed in the women’s 4×100m and won gold.

Amusan is now the world’s record holder, commonwealth games record hold, Africa’s record holder and Nigeria’s record holder.

Tobi Amusan broke the women’s 100 metres hurdles world record twice in a day in a stunning semi-final and finals at the ongoing World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA.

Amusan first broke the women’s 100 metres hurdles world record of 12.20 seconds set by American Kendra Harrison 6 years ago with a 12.12 seconds semi-final run on Sunday. Harrison came second.

“It is a strong feeling. I wanted to get out and go,” she told reporters. “I did what I had to do. Looking forward to the finals.”

In the finals, 25-year-old Amusan, who finished fourth at last year’s Olympics and fourth at the worlds in 2019,  ran her final race in 12.06 seconds and became the Nigerian first world champion.

She would have recorded two world records in one night had the original time achieved in for her final race (12.06 secs) not been adjusted for wind direction.

“She’s been fourth twice. I know it’s not an easy position,” said her friend, Danielle Williams of Jamaica, who finished sixth. “She’s been close to throwing (in) the towel. To see her come out here and do this right now, it’s amazing.”

“That was a crazy race,” said Britain’s Cindy Sember, who advanced on time. “I have been in shape and I knew it was coming when it matters the most.”