Serena Williams retires from tennis. Most likely, the US Open was her last tournament – but this is not certain.
In her announcement, the American did not say the specific moment of leaving, and in an interview after it, she deliberately spoke vaguely.
One thing is clear – the end of a great career that began back in 1995. And in the end, she decided to make some noise. In the second round in New York, the American, who will turn 41 on September 26, beat the second racket of the world Anette Kontaveit – 7: 6, 2: 6, 6: 2. It is impossible to say that Kontaveit played badly, but Serena still turned out to be better than one of the best in the world. And the way she moved in long draws in the third set is simply magnificent.
But in the third round, Serena was stopped by Ayla Tomlyanovic – 5: 7, 7: 6, 1: 6. The Australian had probably the best match of her career and demonstrated psychological power never seen before. The match lasted three hours, and in the third set Serena was already clearly tired, but in the last game she reminded that she was a lump. Tomljanovich needed six match points, because the American played the first five with brilliant attacks.
Serena is clearly the greatest tennis player of her era. And quite possibly the greatest tennis player in history.
