Highlights
- Serena Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam Winner
- Williams won her first major tournament in September 1999
- Serena was defeated by Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic
US Open 2022: The time is here, the time that saw Serena Williams bow out of international Tennis. Speculations about Serena's retirement were always rife and she too had been vocal about the same. The 40-years-old Tennis star was already clear in her head that she wants to walk away from the game after her road ends at the US Open. In the ongoing US Open, Williams showed glimpses of what she was as an athlete in her prime. Williams defeated Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in the first round and followed it up by defeating world number 2 Anett Kontaveit. On the contrary, she along with Venus crashed out of the women's doubles first round owing to a defeat at the hands of Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka.
The GOAT, the legend, Serena Williams took on Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in what ended up becoming a thunderous battle of 7-5, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The match which went up to 180 minutes had all the elements that Serena's last match was worthy of. It is safe to say that this match will certainly go down in history books as it was nothing short of a classic.
Williams did drop a very close opening set but it did not dampen her spirits. She was extremely quick to go 4-0 up in the second set and looked like a contender to clinch the third set. But Ajla Tomljanovichad had some other ideas in her mind. The Aussie came back hard and won four straight games and closed out on the first set. She forced a tiebreak which she nearly won but Williams somehow managed to break free and escaped with a 7-4 win to extend the match.
The match which went up to three hours exhausted the 40-year-old Tennis player as she dropped the next two sets quickly. At one point in time, it felt that the entire stadium was rooting against Tomljanovic who managed to take the final set which ended Serena's illustrious career.
"Thank you so much, you guys were amazing today. I wish I played a little bit better. Thank you, daddy, I know you're watching. Thanks, mom," Williams said on the court. "I just thank everyone that's here, that's been on my side so many years, decades. Oh my gosh, literally decades. But it all started with my parents, and they deserve everything, so I'm grateful for them", said Serena as she bid adieu to the game to she has contributed so much to.
