American tennis player Serena Williams lost the third round of the US Open grand slam tournament to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic on Friday. The New York game, believed to be Williams’ last, ended in a 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1. The 40-year-old Williams stated in an interview with the magazine last month vogue that she would retire after the US Open. Nearly 24,000 spectators Tomljanovic in New York beat 23-time grand slam winner Williams.
Although Williams remained vague after the game whether the loss of Tomljanovic actually means her departure from top sport (“never say never”), she seemed to be saying goodbye at the same time. Moved to tears, she thanked her parents and then her sister Venus. “I wouldn’t have been here without her,” Williams said of Venus. “She’s the only reason Serena exists.” The 29-year-old Tomljanovic, number 49 in the world, also addressed the audience. “I love Serena as much as you do,” she said. “This is an unreal moment for me.”
Williams previously told vogue to focus on other things after the US Open. On raising her 5-year-old daughter Olympia, for example. She also said that she and her husband still want to have children, but that she “absolutely does not want to be pregnant as an athlete”. During her last Grand Slam victory – the Australian Open in 2017 – she was already pregnant with Olympia. The top tennis player does want to remain involved in the sport: “I see no future without tennis.”
With 73 tournament wins – including 23 grand slams – Williams is one of the best tennis players in the world. She won her first grand slam as a 17-year-old in 1999: the US Open, where she is now expected to end her career. Earlier this summer, she announced her return to Arthur Ashe stadium after nearly a year of absence.
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