Serena Williams may take rest of the year off

The big tennis tournaments are over. She just turned 34 and there are clothes to be designed, HSN shows to shoot and those Drake restaurants aren’t going to open themselves, are they? And, besides, just what does Serena Williams have left to prove after her quest for a calendar year Grand Slam ended in a stunning U.S. Open semifinal?

All are good reasons to just take the rest of the year off and her coach, Patrick Mourtoglou, hinted that she may do just that. Williams has won 21 career Grand Slam titles, one shy of Steffi Graf’s Open Era record and three off the all-time record set by Australian Margaret Court.

“I don’t doubt she will have the motivation to win more Grand Slams and reach records,” Mouratoglou said (via ESPN W). “I’m just thinking about the end of the season, and I don’t know how high the motivation is, and I don’t think she should go play competitions if her motivation is not high enough.”

Williams has the world’s No. 1 ranking in the bag and is scheduled to play in the China Open next week and in the WTA Finals in late October in Singapore. Mourtoglou hinted at just how awful the Open loss was for her.

“She was two matches away from something really big, so it was very painful,” Mouratoglou said of her mindset. “Any loss is very painful for her, but this one even more than usual. So it just takes time to recover from it, and when the motivation comes back, which I don’t doubt it will, then it will be time to start tournaments again.”

After a grueling year, why not rest up and think about 2016? She’s at the top of her game even if she has decades of pro tennis behind her.

“I have no doubt the motivation will be there and no doubt she’ll be the same Serena,” he said. “She just won four Grand Slams in a row and got to the semifinals of a fifth. It’s not time to doubt whether age will affect her. She has a lot of time left.”

As for Serena’s thinking, she left a cryptic message on Instagram: “Stay tuned.”