Thread by @TIME

The greatest female athlete of all time—check that: perhaps the greatest athlete of all time—is hanging up her racket for good.

After 27 years of professional tennis, @serenawilliams plays her last match at the 2022 #USOpen ti.me/3CG4cir

It’s been too long a road for Williams to shy away from what she’s done. She owns it. Deservedly. Unapologetically. And it’s rooted in what she knows she and her sister have meant to the sport they both shaped and were shaped by

She helped change behavioral expectations for female athletes, and by extension women in all workplaces, by exuding power and passion—and bringing her full self—to her hard-court office

She inspired the next generation of tennis stars.

@naomiosaka, who has won 4 Grand Slams, never would have picked up a tennis racket if it weren’t for Serena Williams

It wasn’t just women who were taking cues from the Williams sisters. As an aspiring young race-car driver, @LewisHamilton tuned in to Venus’ and Serena’s matches from a public housing complex north of London

.@KELLYROWLAND gets emotional when asked to try to describe her friend’s influence on the world

Greatness is something she knows well. No tennis player, male or female, has won more major championships in the “Open Era”—the period starting in 1968 when the Grand Slam tournaments allowed professionals—than Serena Williams

In her final days as a pro tennis player, she also shed some tears. Walking away from the game you’ve spent your life mastering is complicated

But for all that Serena accomplished on the court, it’s what she has meant off the court that makes her the most consequential athlete of the 21st century, full stop

Read the full cover story by @seanmgregory here: ti.me/3CG4cir