Serena Williams Vogue Cover: Women's Tennis Legend set for retirement

Serena Williams is set to finally say goodbye to professional tennis after inspiring a generation of female athletes in the sports for over 20 years.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner has penned a new personal essay forthe latest issue of Vogue magazine and was revealed exclusively on "Good Morning America" Tuesday with the title - "The Hardest Thing".

The essay was Serena's way of saying a final farewell to the sport in her own way and in her own words.

In the essay, Williams said she hates the word 'retirement', writing: "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.

American Tennis Legend Serena Williams Getty/picture alliance

The former No. 1 ranked women's tennis player and four-time Olympic gold medalist also admits that 'there is no happiness in the topic' for her as she wants to focus on family and her business investment empire.

The 40-year-old Michigan native, explained that she doesn't feel she can attend to her other life while also playing tennis.

Serena Williams has a tech investment firm - Serena Ventures, which has helped invest early in businesses including MasterClass, Tonal and Noom.

The firm launched earlier this year with an inaugural $111 million early-stage venture capital fund and 78% of their companies' portfolios have been founded by women and people of color.

Serena Williams x VOGUE Serena Williams / Instagram

"But these days, if I have to choose between building my tennis résumé and building my family, I choose the latter ... In the last year, Alexis and I have been trying to have another child, and we recently got some information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family. I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out," Williams wrote.

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Williams turned pro at just age 14 in 1995, and notched her first career Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 1998.

However, despite confirmation of her possible retirement, she's still actively competing in some tournaments this year.

Williams scored her first tournament singles win in over a year at the WTA National Bank Open in Toronto and also plans to play in the U.S. Open in New York City later this month.

"I’m not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court moment. I’m terrible at goodbyes, the world’s worst," she wrote. "But please know that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words. You have carried me to so many wins and so many trophies. I’m going to miss that version of me, that girl who played tennis. And I’m going to miss you." she wrote.

'I'm terrible at goodbyes' - Serena Williams announces retirement in VOGUE's latest issue

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