Emotional: Serena Williams' tearful farewell

It wasn't just the choice of song that fit what was probably the last match of what many consider to be the best tennis player in history: night session at the US Open in New York, 24.000 euphoric fans in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, millions of captivated TV viewers, a dramatic course - and one in over three Hours of playtime of never-giving-up Serena Williams. This is exactly how the 23-time Grand Slam tournament winner wants to be remembered.

“I’m such a fighter,” said the 40-year-old proudly after her third-round exit against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic (5:7, 7:6, 1:6). “I feel that I have really given and still give something to tennis. The different look, the winning fist, the crazy intensity.” She is “so grateful that I had these moments, that I am Serena”.

These sentences from the press conference had a clear “goodbye” character, just like their thanks on the pitch. The American tearfully thanked her family, especially her sister Venus, with whom she had also been eliminated from the tournament in doubles the evening before. And yet, after 24 years, 81 Grand Slam tournaments and numerous ups and downs, she still wanted to keep a tiny back door open for a return. “I don’t think so, but you never know,” said Williams, who, with a view to the Australian Open at the beginning of next year, added with a smile: “I have always loved Australia…” But a return is not realistic. She is now ready to “be a mother even more, to be a different version of Serena.” There is “a bright future” ahead of her.

Serena Williams with great fighting spirit. © APA/afp / TIMOTHY A. CLARY

Missed all-time record But saying goodbye to tennis – that much is clear – is extremely difficult for Williams. The ambitious athlete is upset that she missed the Australian Margaret Court's all-time record by winning a Grand Slam tournament. She made one last attempt at the US Open, where she won her first Grand Slam title as a 1999-year-old in 17. At least Williams proved she can still compete with players who could be her daughters in age.

Lyudmila Samsonova defeated Williams in the third round. © APA/getty / MATTHEW STOCKMAN

Hardly any match practice, slipped to 605th place in the world rankings, weak results before the tournament - but Williams defied the low expectations. At times she played in Flushing Meadows Park almost as if she were in her prime, and she could always rely on her fighting spirit. Against Tomljanovic, who will face the in-form Russian Ljudmila Samsonowa in the round of 1, Williams fended off a total of five match points despite a hopeless 5:1998 deficit in the third set. Williams missed the round of XNUMX at the US Open for the first time since her debut in XNUMX. “I’m very sorry, I love her as much as you all do,” said Tomljanovic, visibly uncomfortable in her own skin, into the stadium microphone: “She’s the greatest of all time.”

But even the biggest ones have to give up at some point. The tears in her eyes weren't from sadness, Williams said, but rather "tears of joy." But she didn't know for sure herself. Williams first has to get used to the new phase of life, to the new freedoms. On her first day as a supposed tennis retiree, she “definitely wanted to rest” and “spend time with my daughter.”

And she already had a wish for the evening: “I’ll probably go to karaoke.” The Tina Turner hit “The Best” would be a suitable song for her.

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Emotional: Serena Williams' tearful farewell

As Serena Williams said goodbye to the big tennis stage with wet eyes and a heavy heart, Tina Turner's evergreen “The Best” blared from the speakers.

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