Newsman: Serena Williams lost her third round match at the U.S. Open. on Friday In front of a sell-out crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium She faltered against Tomljanovic, a 29-year-old Australian who is ranked 46th. It is likely bringing an end to Serena‘s extraordinary singles tennis career. Ajla Tomljanovic defeated the 23-time Grand Slam champion in three tension-filled sets, 7-5, 6-7, 6-1. Serena Williams winner of a half-dozen of her 23 Grand Slam championships. The first came in 1999 in New York, when Williams was just 17.
In an interview after the match, Williams thanked her fans, parents and family for their decades of support.
“Thank you daddy, I know you’re watching. Thanks mom,” Williams said, fighting back tears.
“It all started with my parents and they deserve everything so I’m really grateful for them,” she added. She also thanked her sister, telling the crowd, “I wouldn’t be Serena if there wasn’t Venus.”
Williams gave away leads in each set, including the last, in which she was up 1-0 before dropping the final six games.
On one point in the second set, Williams’ feet got tangled and she fell to the court, dropping her racket. She finished with 51 unforced errors, 21 more than Tomljanovic.
Williams let a 5-3 lead vanish in the first set. She did something similar in the second, giving away edges of 4-0 and 5-2, and requiring five set points to finally put that one in her pocket. From 4-all in the tiebreaker, meaning Williams was three points from defeat, she pounded a 117 mph ace, hit a forehand winner to cap a 20-stroke exchange, then watched Tomljanovic push a forehand long.
Unwilling to go quietly, Williams staved off five match points to prolong the three-hours-plus proceedings, as some spectators stood to watch, camera phones at the ready.
Tomljanovic of course, wanted this to end.
Serena Williams has the most Grand Slam singles titles of any man or woman in the Open Era, which began in 1968. Only Australia’s Margaret Court, whose career began prior to that, has more, with 24 Major titles to her name.
Williams won 10 of those titles after turning 30, more than any other woman in the history of the sport. Her last singles title came in 2017 at the Australian Open, where she defeated her sister in straight sets. In addition to her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams also has 14 Major doubles titles, 73 total singles titles — fifth most of any woman in the Open Era — and an Olympic gold medal.
In an interview with Time, published Monday, Williams 40,
said that her daughter, Olympia, “doesn’t like when I play tennis.”
“It’s hard to completely commit when your flesh and blood is saying, ‘Aw,'” Williams said.
The tennis icon said she would like to have another child and also focus on Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm she recently started.
