American great 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.

On Monday, Williams played only her second singles match since she returned to action at Wimbledon in June after a year-long absence from competition, beating Spain's Nuria Parrizas Diaz to reach the second round of the Toronto Open.

But the 40-year-old said after the match that she could see the light at the end of the tennis tunnel in her career.