Serena Williams waved an emotional farewell to the the tennis world after she lost to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic on a thrilling night in New York. Williams fought back from a set down but ended up losing 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-1.
Right to the end, the 40-year-old Williams played some of her best tennis in a long while and put on a show for the almost capacity 24,000 crowd as she fought to prolong her career, putting on one final memorable show for those lucky enough to witness it.
This brings to an end an illustrious 27-year professional career that brought 23 major singles wins and sees the American widely labelled as the greatest of all time.
Williams had tears streaming down her face when she was interviewed in the middle of the court, thanking her family, team, the crowd and her fans across the world for their support over the years. When asked if she would reconsider retiring after her performances this week, Williams said: “I’m literally playing my way into this and getting better. I should have started sooner this year. I don’t think so, but you never know.”
Serena Williams has been named the highest-earning female athlete ever with over $94M made in career prize money. She spent 319 weeks as world number one and has been known for her influence in activism and business ventures.
Right at the scene of her first major triumph in 1999, almost everyone who could rose to their feet when she departed the court on Arthur Ashe Stadium waving goodbye with a signature twirl and Tina Turner’s pop classic ‘Simply The Best’ booming out loud over the sound system.
Tomljanovic, who will face Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in the fourth round, stepped to the side and applauded her opponent as she took the microphone.
The world number 46 produced a phenomenal performance to block out the noise and sense of occasion in a brutal contest which lasted three hours and five minutes.