Will Serena’s Final US Open Be Her Last?
Tennis is not ready to say goodbye to Serena Williams. And perhaps Serena Williams is not prepared to say goodbye either.
In vintage Serena style, the 23-time major champion remained defiant until the end of her third-round US Open match on Friday night with Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic. Despite trailing 1–5 in the final set, Williams denied five match points in the last game. Tomljanovic finally persevered 7–5, 6–7(4), 6–1 The over three-hour battle, fittingly became the longest US Open singles match of Williams’s career.
And with that, one of the most significant sports careers, is over.
But for someone, who is retiring, or as Serena puts it “evolving” away from tennis, it sure didn’t feel like it Friday night.
Throughout the first week of the US Open, Serena competed like she wasn’t just content to have 23,000 plus celebrate her legacy. She played like Serena always has — ready to win the title. In fact, after her second-round win against №2 seed Anett Kontaveit, former World №1 and now ESPN commentator Caroline Wozniacki revealed that she spoke to her friend Serena after the match. Wozniacki told Serena in effect, “Great two matches.” To which Serena replied, “There’s five more to go.”
The US Open’s first week has often been the time when the greats end up playing their final match. And often there’s a feeling of inevitability that, indeed, it is their last match.
Andre Agassi, in 2006, lost to German qualifier Benjamin Becker 7–5, 6–7(4), 6–4, 7–5 in the third round. The then 36-year-old Agassi needed cortisone injections to deal with severe back pain and just wanted to walk off the court without limping. But before then, Agassi won one of the most memorable matches in US Open history over Marcos Baghdatis in five sets that delighted the New York crowd.
In 2012, Andy Roddick bowed out to then defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro 6–7(1), 7–6(4), 6–2, 6–4 in their fourth round meeting. Roddick’s retirement announcement came at a press conference right before the tournament started, though he had given subtle hints throughout the season that would it likely be his last, including an emotional wave goodbye at Wimbledon after losing to David Ferrer in the third round.
Roddick fought hard against Del Potro in their match, yet as in the Agassi match, there was an overwhelming sense that this would be their last match in their careers.
There was none of that in Serena’s match on Friday.
Now don’t get me wrong. This is not to say that both Agassi and Roddick weren’t trying to compete and stay longer in the tournament. It’s just that even after the Vogue article from a few weeks ago where Serena announced her decision, all the way to last night’s match. in my opinion, it’s hard to say if that really was Serena’s last match.
Wishful thinking? Maybe. But even Serena in her post-match press conference, seemed to leave the door open to, well, as they say, never say never.
Perhaps at the Australian Open next January.
“I always did love Australia, though,” Serena said with a smile when asked about a possible comeback. “But yeah, you know what, I’ve come a long way since last year at Wimbledon. Just not sure if that was my last moment or not.
“Making it a different moment I think is much better. Yeah, and it takes a lot of work to get here. Clearly I’m still capable. It takes a lot more than that. I’m ready to, like, be a mom, explore a different version of Serena.”
The thing is that many tennis players, especially those that have achieved greatness, find it very hard to say goodbye. So many top players have retired from singles, only to decide to return to the tour later, either in singles or doubles.
Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, and Kim Clijsters to name just a few. Each of them retired in singles and then later returned, to compete in singles or just in doubles. Hingis and Navratilova were especially successful in winning multiple major doubles titles.
Speaking of doubles, one also has to mention Venus Williams. Serena and Venus played and lost their first-round US Open doubles, which many believe will be the last time we will see the Williams Sisters, one of the most successful doubles teams, ever, compete again.
At age 42, Venus has not officially declared anything regarding if she will continue playing on the tour. Venus has always said, when she decides to retire, she will let everyone know. Could Serena and Venus return, perhaps as doubles partners down the road? That remains to be seen.
Serena, after her match Friday night, tearfully thanked her sister saying “I wouldn’t be Serena if there wasn’t Venus.”
Serena will likely now reflect on her incredible tennis career and all she’s accomplished. As she said, she really wanted to pass Margaret Court’s record of winning 24 major singles titles. Serena has either chosen to make peace with the fact that she did not reach that mark, or not. Yet no matter the number, Serena’s remarkable accomplishments, both on and off the court, prove that she is not only the greatest female tennis player ever, but perhaps even the best of all time — man or woman.
Will Serena want to add more major titles to her legacy? We will see.
All I can say is that I don’t think that last Friday night will be the last night of Serena’s career.