Tennis
Serena Williams Bids Farewell to Tennis with a Final Match at US Open
by privatebet.com - 2022/09/03
23 years after winning her very first Grand Slam title at the US Open, Serena Williams bid farewell to tennis at Flushing Meadows. One of the greatest athletes in the history of this sport lost her final match against Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the US Open. Williams announced that she was planning to retire following this Grand Slam, and there was a lot of anticipation leading to each one of her matches. After defeating Danka Kovinic and Anett Kontaveit, she couldn’t stand her ground against Tomljanovic and lost 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-1. Williams announced her decision to step away from tennis in an essay for Vogue and said she sees it as more of an “evolution” than a retirement. She bid an emotional farewell to her fans after her final match and thanked her family for helping her get where she is today. "I thank everyone that's here, that's been on my side so many years, decades… But it all started with my parents. So I'm really grateful for them. And I wouldn't be Serena if there wasn't Venus, so thank you, Venus. She's the only reason that Serena Williams ever existed," she said after losing to Tomljanovic. Williams played her first professional tournament as a 14-year-old in 1995 and went on to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, in addition to 14 in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles.