Serena Williams, one of the country's most iconic tennis stars, hinted Tuesday that she will retire from the sport after this year's U.S. Open.

Why it matters: Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam champion and has been a pillar of the sport of tennis since she first won the U.S. Open in 1999.

What she said: Williams wrote for Vogue Tuesday that she would not use the word "retirement" to describe her decision to step away from the global sport.

• "Maybe the best word to describe what I'm up to is evolution. I'm here to tell you that I'm evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me," she wrote.
• "I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals and finally discovering a different, but just exciting Serena," she wrote on Instagram.
• "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," she wrote for Vogue. "Maybe I’d be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity. "

What's next: Williams said she plans to play in the U.S. Open, writing in Vogue that she "wasn't ready to win Wimbledon this year. And I don't know if I will be ready to win New York. But I'm going to try."

• Williams said she also plans to do more work with her venture capital firm Serena Ventures.

Flashback: Williams spent much of the last year away from tennis.

• She lost in the first round at Wimbledon this year. Before then, she last played at Wimbledon in 2021. Her last Grand Slam victory came in 2017.

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