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Serena Williams takes aim at Margaret Court in retirement announcement

The tennis superstar is retiring to focus on expanding her family.
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Serena Williams has taken aim at controversial tennis star Margaret Court as she announced her plans to retire from tennis after the US Open to focus on having another baby.

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The tennis superstar currently has one daughter, Olympia, with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

WATCH: Serena Williams sports role model tennis with daughter

Serena revealed the shock news in a piece she penned for for Vogue Magazine this week, where she seemed to take umbrage with the fact that people have compared her accomplishments to that of the Court’s.

Throughout her own stellar career, Serena has won a whopping 23 grand slam singles titles – a feat only surpassed by Australian former tennis pro, who she seemed to take a dig at in her article.

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Serena Williams will retire to focus on expanding her family. (Credit: Getty)

“There are people who say I’m not the GOAT because I didn’t pass Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles, which she achieved before the ‘open era’ that began in 1968,” Williams wrote.

Despite saying she would be “lying” if she said she didn’t want the title, she added that she’s “really not thinking about her.” 

“The way I see it, I should have had 30-plus grand slams,” Serena continued. “I had my chances after coming back from giving birth. I went from a C-section to a second pulmonary embolism to a grand slam final. I played while breastfeeding. I played through post-partum depression.

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“But I didn’t get there. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. I didn’t show up the way I should have or could have. But I showed up 23 times, and that’s fine. Actually, it’s extraordinary.”

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Margaret Court has caused controversy in recent years. (Credit: Getty)

She concluded that, at the end of the day, when asked to choose between building her tennis career or her family, “I choose the latter.”

It’s fair for the mum-of-one to dismiss comparisons to Court, given that the 80-year-old has made headlines in recent years after she vowed to stop using Qantas because of the airline’s promotion of same-sex marriage.

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Court wrote in an article for The West Australian that she believed in the traditional definition of marriage as stated in the Bible.

“Your statement leaves me no option but to use other airlines [where] possible for my extensive travelling,” she said.

WATCH: Serena Williams and Olympia have fun dancing to Disney songs

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Unsurprisingly, her statement caused outrage among tennis fans and players alike, with retired tennis player Martina Navratilova, who is openly gay, responding on Twitter at the time that “maybe it’s time to change the name of Margaret Court Arena then”.

Despite the call to rename the arena gaining major traction on social media, Australia’s Prime Minister at the time, Malcolm Turnbull, said that Court was “entitled” to her opinion.

“Whatever people may think about Margaret Court’s views on gay marriage, and she’s entitled to have them, and she’s entitled to fly on whatever airline she likes, or not … she is one of the all-time greats and the Margaret Court Arena celebrates Margaret Court the tennis player,” he told radio station 3AW.

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