One of the iconic moments in the history of Tennis is when Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus Williams to lift her 23rd grand slam title at the 2017 Australian Open.
With this victory, Serena Williams became the tennis player with the 2nd highest number of grand slam titles (women’s). Margaret Court holds the first position with 24 grand slam titles.
However, Williams has more than Rafael Nadal, who stands at 22 victories and is the leader in men’s grand slam titles.
When the NBA Legend realized Williams was about to secure her 23rd victory, he had a surprise in store for her. It was even better since Jordan’s jersey number in the Chicago Bulls was 23.
He gifted her two pairs of customized shoes to toast her 23rd grand slam victory.
Upon receiving the present, Williams revealed: "I don’t like surprises.”
However, Michael Jordan sent a special note along with the present, and she certainly loved the surprise. Jordan’s note said:
“Winning is hard, it takes years of hard work, mental toughness, and a willingness to accept the fact that you hate to lose. Congratulations with much respect on winning No. 23. It will be a privilege to keep watching your determination on the court. Your friend, Michael Jordan.”
One of the shoes she received was a black and pink AJ1s. The other was a red and black AJ1s.
These were specifically designed to pay an ode to her 23rd grand slam title with the number ‘23’ engraved on the shoes.
The last time Serena Williams played in a grand slam was in the 2019 U.S. Open. She lost to Bianca Andreescu, and following that, she stepped away from tennis.
However, she hasn’t revealed whether she has officially retired. During a press conference promoting Serena Ventures, she revealed that she hasn’t retired but has stepped away for a while to find the balance between tennis and spending time with her family.
In another interview, she spoke about disliking the term ‘retirement,’ but she also understood the need to move on from tennis after a certain point.
During a conversation with Vogue, she revealed that if she was a man, she could have been like Tom Brady and continued playing while his wife (now ex-wife) held down the fort. As it’s known, Brady retired for 40 days and returned to football which resulted in a divorce with Gisele Bündchen.
“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair. 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. Maybe I’d be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity.”
Nevertheless, Serena Williams enjoys motherhood to the fullest and when the time is right, she will expand her family and think about a 2nd child.
