Picture Credit: Twitter
American tennis stalwart Serena Williams concluded her illustrious 27-year career after suffering a 7-5, 6-7 (4/7) 6-1 defeat against Ajla Tomljanovic in the 2022 US Open. The gruelling 3-hour, 5-minute match saw Williams show off her signature poise and power but couldn’t pull off a win as she lost in three sets.
Williams hangs her boots after winning 39 Grand Slams out of which 14 are women's doubles championships title with her sister, Venus. Williams also has two more mixed doubles titles with Max Mirnyi. She was also the defending champion for all four Grand Slams on two different occasions in 2003 and 2015.
Coming back to the match, Serena went down fighting in the first set but soon returned with a hard-fought tie-breaker to win in the second set. The third and final set of the game saw Tomljanovic jump to a 5-1 lead but Williams managed to garner every bit of her strength and saved five match points in the seventh game before finally bowing out.
One final wave 🥲 pic.twitter.com/HivoQiMDdT
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2022
After the match, Serena Williams thanked her fans as she waived a final goodbye, calling off an amazing career with a near-perfect ending. While speaking in her on-court interview, Williams reminisced about her career and thanked her parents and her sister for their constant support in this journey.
"I don't think so, but you never know. It's been a fun ride," she said. "It's been the most incredible ride and journey I've ever been on, I mean, in my life. I'm just so grateful to every single person that's ever said, 'Go, Serena,' in their life. I'm just so grateful. You got me here."
A speech worth of the 🐐@serenawilliams | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/0twItGF0jq
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2022
