Serena Williams may have planned retirement her way but the American must be prepared to accept the goodbyes as well as the losses and exit the stage with grace, tennis great Martina Navratilova has told Reuters.

Following are reactions to Serena Williams announcing on Tuesday that she plans to retire from the sport following the U.S. Open:

Serena Williams said on Tuesday she was "evolving away from tennis" and planned to retire from the sport she dominated with 23 Grand Slam titles following the U.S. Open tournament, which begins later this month.

Serena Williams stepped onto a hardcourt for the first time in a year and a half on Monday and fought through for a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Spain's Nuria Parrizas Diaz.

Kwon Soon-woo may munch on a chocolate bar on Centre Court when he tackles defending champion Novak Djokovic in Monday's Wimbledon opener. Meanwhile, Harmony Tan, who takes on Serena Williams on Tuesday, will have plenty of time to devote to her love of surfing should she exit.

Ranked a lowly 1,204 in the world and without a competitive singles match in 12 months, Serena Williams will sweep into Wimbledon targeting what would be her greatest triumph.

Serena Williams delivered one of her most complete performances since returning to the game after the birth of her daughter to rout a helpless Maria Sharapova in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday.

Serena Williams's quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title was put on hold on Saturday after the former world number one was knocked out of the French Open in the third round following a 6-2 7-5 defeat by fellow American Sofia Kenin.

Germany's Angelique Kerber shattered Serena Williams's dreams of an eighth Wimbledon title and record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles trophy with a 6-3, 6-3 win in the final on Saturday.

Three-time champion Serena Williams will make her eagerly-awaited return to Grand Slam tennis on Tuesday with a French Open first-round match against Kristyna Pliskova on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Serena Williams says she lives in fear of blood clots, a condition that surfaced during a harrowing postnatal ordeal in September when she almost died giving birth to her first child.

Serena Williams made her long-awaited comeback to tennis but the 23-time Grand Slam title winner and former world number one suffers defeat, playing alongside big sister Venus in a Fed Cup dead rubber.

Tennis star Serena Williams says 'I do'“ to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

John McEnroe says he would have been better off never trying to compare Serena Williams to men's tennis players after the furor over his remark that she would rank "like 700 in the world".

Serena Williams may be missing from this year's French Open, but big sister Venus is still going strong and marks her Roland Garros 20th anniversary.

Superstar athlete Serena Williams late Tuesday promised she would be back on the court after becoming a mom, with her baby hopefully cheering her on.

US tennis great Serena Williams marks her fiance's birthday and her return to the world number one ranking by posting an emotional message to her unborn baby on Instagram.

Tennis superstar Serena Williams is pregnant and taking maternity leave through the rest of 2017, expecting to give birth this fall, her spokeswoman said on Wednesday in an announcement that upended a sport the 35-year-old athlete has dominated for the past decade.

Serena Williams clinched a record 23rd grand slam title at the Australian Open on Saturday but spent most of the immediate aftermath talking about her older sister Venus.

Serena Williams ended the fairytale run of Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at the Australian Open on Thursday with a crushing 6-2 6-1 win that set up a final against her sister Venus.