Serena Williams has been eliminated in the third round in her possible retirement at the US Open. The 40-year-old American lost 7-5 6-7 6-1 to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, the number 49 in the world.
Williams probably played her last game in front of a frenzied crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis stadium in the world. The former number 1 in the world played all her matches on primetime this week. Each time she was received like a star and entered the runway in a glittering dress. Multiple tributes were shown on screens.
Shortly after the game ended, the US Open wrote “words cannot describe what Serena has meant to all of us” on Twitter.
23-time grand slam winner Williams announced three weeks ago that she was ready for a new phase in her life. “I’ve never liked the word retirement. I want to tell you that I’m moving away from tennis to other things that are important to me. I’m going to enjoy the coming weeks,” she told Vogue.
She did not mention a specific farewell tournament, but in recent weeks it was assumed that the US Open would be her last tournament. “I’ve been pretty vague about that, haven’t I? I’ll stay vague because you never know,” she said earlier this week.
Williams first participated in a Grand Slam tournament in 1998 and was already the best at the US Open in 1999. She won the tournament six times. At Wimbledon and the Australian Open she was the best seven times and Roland Garros she won three times.
Williams now wants to focus on expanding her family. “I need to focus on motherhood, my spiritual goals and finally discover another Serena.” She also wants to spend more time on her organization Serena Ventures, through which she supports the underprivileged in society.