Though she turned pro and gained popularity first, Venus Williams has had to deal with occasionally being in the shadow of her record-breaking sister, Serena Williams. Their careers are forever linked, as they played in several Grand Slam finals against each other and won 14 women’s doubles titles as partners.

As close as they are and as much as they support one another, sports media hasn’t always treated them as two amazing women with different identities — a narrative that has extended into their retirement plans. In a recent interview, Venus addressed her feelings on constantly being compared to Serena and possibly retiring from tennis. 

“Sometimes they even think we’re twins,” Venus said. “If you guys did think so, we are two separate people, born on different days.”

When Serena retired in 2022, both fans and media assumed that meant Venus would be hanging up her racket as well. In fact, she’s continued to play, giving fans a few more classic matches. In addition to Serena, many of her contemporaries, both male and female, have recently retired, which has the questions about Venus’ plans getting louder.

“As that moment gets closer, Serena ruined it for me,” Venus joked. “Because as soon as she retired, everybody thought I retired.”

When the time does come, don’t expect the seven-time Grand Slam champion to cry. Even though she’s devoted everything to tennis and it’s dominated every aspect of her life, she thinks she’ll be at peace with her decision.

“I always thought that I would be just crying when I had to retire because it’s all you know and you spend your whole life programming your mind to do that every single day…Now I realize that I won’t cry because I’ve definitely given everything to this sport,” she said. “I think more than anything, I’ll be grateful. I think that will be the feeling.”