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US Open 2022: End of an era as Serena Williams goes down fighting to Ajla Tomljanovic in third round

It may be recalled that Serena had announced to the world on August 9 that she was getting ready to step away from her playing career.

Serena Williams

Bengaluru, September 3: Serena Williams' farewell journey is all but over after a hard-fought 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 loss to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third-round of the US Open 2022 in New York on Friday night, which probably might be the last singles match of her stellar career.

After shocking Estonian the No.2 seed Anett Kontaveit, Serena was back under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium to take on her Croatian-born Australian opponent for a place in the round-of-16.

In the first-ever WTA Tour level meeting Serena lost the first set to Tomljanovic, despite having a 5-3 lead at one point, but restored parity in the second which she won in tie-breakers.

It all boiled down to the decider where the world No.46 proved too good for the 23-time Grand Slam champion.

Arthur Ashe Stadium has been as deafening as it has ever been in its 25 years for Serena's matches in US Open 2022.

Ciara, Russell Wilson and, as usual, Spike Lee were among the celebrities spotted during Serena's match against Tomljanovic.

Tomljanovic in form

Tomljanovic in form

On the other hand, the 29-year-old is playing the best tennis of her life. Tomljanovic made it to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the second straight year (her career best in the majors), and has now won 11 of her past 12 matches.

A victory over Tomljanovic would have made Serena the oldest woman to reach a Grand Slam round-of-16 in the Open Era that comprises more than a half-century.

Sisters act

Sisters act

Earlier, Serena's doubles campaign ended when she and sister Venus Williams lost in what appeared to be their last doubles match on Thursday night at the sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium.

They quickly packed their bags, waved briefly to the crowd and walked together to the locker room as the novel pairing of 37-year-old Lucie Hradecka and 17-year-old Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic was too much in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win.

Collective groan

Collective groan

On Friday night, after a collective groan in the sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium, the crowd rose to their feet to pay their respect to the greatest women's tennis player of all time in her final outing at the US Open, as she treated the crowd to one more of her famous twirls at the Grand Slam she has won six times.

Serena ended up going down in a match that lasted three hours and seven minutes, with a 15-minute final game where the 40-year-old saved five match points illustrating her fighting spirit down to the last moments.

Adios champ!

Adios champ!

With 23 major singles titles, Serena remained just one shy of Margaret Court's all-time record and was eyeing one last shot at matching the Australian at the Grand Slam event of the year. But it wasn't to be as Tomljanovic had other ideas.

It may be recalled that Serena had announced to the world on August 9 that she was getting ready to step away from her playing career. Adios champ!

Story first published: Saturday, September 3, 2022, 15:15 [IST]
Other articles published on Sep 3, 2022