SERENA SETS RETIREMENT PLAN

Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion and the most feared women's tennis player of her generation, is retiring from the sport, presumably after the U.S. Open. Williams, pictured, revealed the news in a first-person essay published online Tuesday by Vogue that she was “evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.” That includes trying to have a second child and working with the venture capital firm she formed. She turns 41 next month. She said the topic was tough to discuss. “I've been reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing tennis,” Williams wrote.

In an Instagram post, Williams didn't specify a retirement date but hinted that it would come after the U.S. Open, which begins later this month in New York. She has won the tournament six times.