Leave it to Serena Williams not to want to go easy, to not want this match, this trip to the US Open, this transcendent career of hers, to truly end.
In what were, barring a change of heart, the final minutes of her quarter-century of excellence on the tennis court and an unyielding reluctance to be told what was not possible, Williams tried mounting one last classic comeback, winning one last historic victory, with the fans on their feet in packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, cell phone cameras at the ready.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion fended off five match points to extend the three-plus hours of proceedings, but could do no more, being knocked out of the US Open in the third round by Ajla Tomljanović 7- 5, 6-7 ( 4), 6-1 Friday night in what is expected to be his final contest.
“I’ve been down before. … I don’t really give up,” Williams said. “In my career, I’ve never given up. In games, I don’t give up. I definitely didn’t give up tonight.”
She turns 41 this month and recently told the world she’s ready to start “evolving” away from her playing days – she expressed distaste for the word “retirement” – and while she intentionally stayed waver on whether this appearance at Flushing Meadows would definitely do it. represent his last hurrah, everyone assumed it will be.
“It’s been the most incredible trip and journey I’ve ever been on in my life,” Williams said, tears streaming down her cheeks shortly after a final shot landed in the net. “I am so grateful to every person who has ever said, ‘Go, Serena!'” in their life.
LOOK | Serena Williams loses to Tomljanović in US Open bye match:
Serena goes down swinging at the US Open in the final match of her career
Tennis legend Serena Williams fought hard for more than three hours but fell to Ajla Tomljanović 7-5, 6-7, 6-1.
Asked during an on-court interview if he might reconsider leaving, Williams replied, “I don’t think so, but you never know.”
A little later, pressing the same issue in her post-match press conference, Williams joked: “I’ve always loved Australia,” the country that hosts the next Grand Slam tournament in January.
With two singles victories this week, including over world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday, Williams took her fans on a minute-long thrill ride at the hard-court tournament that was the site of half a dozen of his championships.
The first came in 1999 in New York, when Williams was a teenager. She is now married and a mother; his daughter, Olympia, turned 5 on Thursday.
“Clearly, I’m still capable… [But] I’m ready to be a mom, to explore a different version of Serena,” she said. “Technically, in the world, I’m still super young, so I want to have some life while I’m still there. walking”.
full house
With 23,859 of her closest friends cheering again on Friday, Williams faltered against Tomljanović, a 29-year-old Australian ranked 46th.
Williams blew leads in every set, including the last, in which she won 1-0 before losing the last six games.
Tomljanović is an unabashed Williams fan, having grown up watching her play on television.
“I’m very sorry, just because I love Serena as much as you do. And what she’s done for me, for the sport of tennis, it’s amazing,” said Tomljanović, who has never been past the quarterfinals. . greater “This is a surreal moment for me.”
Then, drawing laughter, Tomljanović added: “I just thought she was going to beat me… It’s Serena. That’s who she is: She’s the greatest of all time. Period.”
“I’m ready to be a mom and explore a different version of pic.twitter.com/YKWpOmKIco
—@usopen
When asked what she planned to do on the first day of the rest of her life on Saturday, Williams said she would rest, spend time with Olympia, then added, “I’m definitely going to karaoke.”
His performance with his racket on Friday showed big and included a fantastic serving, but it wasn’t perfect.
At one point in the second set, Williams’ feet became tangled and she fell to the court, dropping her racket. She finished with 51 unforced errors, 21 more than Tomljanović.
Williams let a 5-3 lead slip away in the first set. He did something similar in the second, giving away leads of 4-0 and 5-2, and required five set points to finally pocket this one. From 4-all in the tiebreaker, meaning Williams was three points from defeat, she hit a 117 mph ace, hit a forehand winner to cap a 20-stroke exchange, then saw Tomljanović push a long right.
‘I have tried’
The momentum seemed to be on Williams’ side. But he couldn’t pull off the never-admit-defeat kind of triumph that he did so often over the years.
“Oh my God, thank you so much. You guys were amazing today. I tried,” Williams told the audience, hands on hips, before mentioning, among others, her parents and sister great, Venus, sevenfold. senior champion who is 42 years old.
“It wouldn’t be Serena if Venus wasn’t there. So thank you, Venus,” Williams said. “She’s the only reason Serena Williams ever existed.”
They started playing tennis as children in Compton, California, coached by their father, Richard, who taught himself about the sport after watching a player receive a winner’s check on television. He was the central figure in the Oscar-winning film “King Richard”, produced by his daughters.
The brothers lost together in the first round of doubles Thursday night, with another sellout. And on Friday, as during the younger Williams’ other outings this week, there was no doubt which player the paying public preferred.
When Tomljanović broke to go up 6-5 as part of a four-game run to take the first set, one person in his guest box rose to applaud, and he was practically alone.
Otherwise, the crowd cheered when Tomljanović double-faulted, generally considered a faux pas by tennis people.
They got loud in the middle of long exchanges, also frowned upon.
They offered cute “Awwwwww” sounds when Williams took a shot and jumped out of their seats when he did something they thought was extraordinary. A fairly routine service break was the reason for a standing ovation.
Tomljanović draped a blue and white U.S. Open towel over her head in the changes, shielding herself from noise and distractions.
“I really blocked it out as much as I could. It got to me a few times, internally. I mean, I didn’t take it personally because, I mean, I’d be cheering for Serena too, if I wasn’t playing with her.” , said Tomljanović. “But it definitely wasn’t easy.”
Dear Serena…
A Tennis card ✉️ pic.twitter.com/FVtVORpVvn
—@WTA
After Williams hit a swinging backhand volley winner to take a 4-0 lead in the second set, her game improving with each passing moment, the reaction was bewildering. Billie Jean King, a Hall of Famer with a total of 39 Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, raised her cell phone to capture the scene.
“You’re everywhere!” shouted Williams’ husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, from a guest box on the court that also contained power couple Ciara and Russell Wilson.
When Williams drove back-to-back forehand winners to lead 5-2 in the second set, she screamed and leaned forward after each one.
I couldn’t maintain this level.
Williams entered the night having won 19 straight third-round US Open singles events, including reaching at least the semifinals in her most recent 11 appearances in New York.
Talk about a full-circle moment: The only other third-round loss she’s ever had at Flushing Meadows (she’s 42-0 in the first and second rounds) came in 1998, the year Williams debuted at tournament at the age of 16.
He would win his first major trophy 12 months later at the US Open. And now he said goodbye in that same stadium.
“It’s been a long time. I’ve been playing tennis my whole life,” Williams said Friday night, after performing a final spin and wave move usually reserved for victories. “It’s a little early, but I’m also happy because, I mean, this is what I wanted, what I want.”