But according to her essay, she started seeing signs that it was time to wind down her career in August 2019, when she competed in the U.S. Open. "Behind closed doors, thirty minutes before taking the court, I had a procedure to numb my shoulder to get through the match. Shoulder injuries are nothing new for me — over time my tendons have frayed like a string," she writes. "Just stepping onto the court that day felt like a final victory, when of course it should have been merely the first step toward victory. I share this not to garner pity, but to paint my new reality: My body had become a distraction."