Serena Williams

Her last match — at the U.S. Open and probably of her career — was a gutsy display of the power and resilience that have kept fans cheering for nearly 30 ...

Eurosport tennis expert and seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander paid a glowing tribute to Serena Williams.

She never had won a third-round match at Flushing Meadows until Friday. She has yet to win so much as one quarterfinal match at any major tournament; her big ...

Reaction to Serena Williams' loss Friday night to Ajla Tomljanovic at the U.S. Open in what was expected to be the final match of her career:.

Williams' legacy has made an impact on and off the court, and her 27 years on tour have proven the icon to be one of the all-time greatest athletes in the ...

The 23-time Grand Slam champion staved off five match points to prolong the three-hours-plus proceedings, but could not do more, and was eliminated from the ...

The 23-time Grand Slam champion authored one more thrilling chapter to an unprecedented career on an emotional night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Serena Williams went from learning tennis on public courts in a notorious American gangland neighborhood to becoming a superstar for a generation and ...

Tennis players past and present, athletes from across the world and celebrities have lined up to pay tribute to 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

Coco Gauff and Sachin Tendulkar also paid tribute to the 23-time grand slam singles champion.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion staved off five match points to prolong the three-hours-plus proceedings, but could not do more, and was eliminated from the ...

Serena Williams' illustrious tennis career has come to an end after she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 in the third round of the US Open.

Serena Williams' illustrious tennis career has come to an end after she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 in the third round of the US Open.

Serena Williams' third round exit at the U.S. Open most likely ends her tennis career. But in her last act, she offered plenty of thrills.

Giants running back Saquon Barkley went viral during Friday night's match between Serena Williams and Ajla Tomljanovic.

Twenty-seven years on the professional tour, 23 grand slam singles titles and a plethora of records; Serena Williams is leaving tennis as one of the ...

Serena Williams thanked her parents as well as her older sister, Venus, in a post-game interview following what was likely her final match in her solo ...

"It’s been an honor to watch your journey, to watch you conquer all of the goals that you ever set out, to see you break records, to see you just be amazing and transcendent not only on the tennis court, but also off.” “It’s been really hard on her, my career, so it’ll be nice to just do that and spend some time with her and do things that I never really have done or had an opportunity to do. Many reporters also asked the question on everyone’s mind after she announced in “It takes a lot of work to get here. "I wouldn't be Serena if there wasn't Venus," she said. "But it all started with my parents, and they deserve everything, so I'm really grateful for them."

Williams, who lost possibly her last match on Friday night, made herself felt beyond the game as arguably no player ever has.

When it was over, Venus hugged her downcast sister at the net and said, in her ear, “I love you.” Try forgetting that. I wasn’t there in 2001, when Serena, playing her older sister Venus, anxious and unable to settle in—as she often was against Venus—made batches of unforced errors and lost her second U.S. Even before I was born, it was what I was meant to do and what I was supposed to do and what was chosen for me.” The Times sent a reporter to an obscure tournament in Canada in October, 1995, to cover her first professional match—which she lost badly, to an eighteen-year-old American named Annie Miller. In the seventh game of that set, Serena crushed a return winner to break Andreescu’s serve; then she held her own serve; then she broke Andreescu’s serve again and held once more to even the set at 5–5. There was also, a year later, Serena’s [final](https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/in-her-us-open-victory-bianca-andreescu-shows-the-swagger-that-serena-williams-brought-to-womens-tennis) against Bianca Andreescu, in which she dropped the first set, and fell behind five games to one in the second. The last ball she hit was a forehand into the net, and it was likely the last ball she will ever hit on the women’s tour—she announced, in August, that she was “evolving away from tennis,” and the understanding was that the U.S. As dominant a player as she was—the most dominant the sport has seen—her struggles were also numerous, and absorbing, and, sometimes, spectacular enough to become indelible. She would go on to lose the set, 5–7, and the match, and her last real shot at a twenty-fourth major—but not before driving those on hand to cheer for her to raucous delirium. Serena has played in the main singles draw at the U.S. To be a fan of any athlete is to know the ending and to begin processing it before it arrives. For certain stretches, such as the first games of the second set, Serena struck aces and open-stance backhands and swinging volleys as if time—and giving birth to a daughter, five years ago—had taken nothing from her game. It was Daniel Kahneman, with the American psychologist Barbara Fredrickson, who recognized that, in what and how we remember, there tends to be a cognitive bias at work.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion is likely done wiht tennis after her 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1 loss to Ajla Tomljanovic at the U.S. Open.

It’s time, as Williams famously wrote, for her to be “evolving” away from her days as a player. “Everyone looks at her and tries to be like Serena,” said Caroline Garcia, a Frenchwoman seeded 17th and into the fourth round at the U.S. It’s time for her to devote extra energy to being a mom and a businesswomen and whatever else life brings her way. “It will not be the same.” “And I’m sure that’s going to be for years to come.” Over the more than two decades since, Williams and Venus, who earned seven major singles trophies of her own, get credit for inspiring Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka and countless of others to play tennis, yes, but also for pushing plenty of others to change their views about what can be done and what can’t. The 23 championships at the Grand Slam tournaments that have come to define success in her sport. Williams wore what she wanted on a tennis court. Open — and, it seems clear, of her career — offered Williams the chance to say how she’d most like to be remembered. “She embodies that no dream is too big,” Tomljanovic said. The 14 majors in doubles with her sister, Venus. “I feel like I really brought something, and bring something, to tennis.

Serena Williams appears to have played her final match, falling to Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 in the third round of the U.S. Open.

It takes a lot of work to get here. It takes a lot more than that. In the interview immediately following her match, Williams left the door open for a potential return.

Serena Williams, who said she would be "evolving away from tennis" after the US Open, played her final singles match at the tournament on Friday.

"I don't know." "This is what I do best," Williams told the crowd after the match. "I don't think so, but you never know," Williams said. "I'm going to stay vague because you never know." She then dominated the third set, winning 6-4 to take the match. "I've been pretty vague about it, right?"

Right down to what were, barring a change of heart, the final minutes of her quarter-century of excellence on the tennis court, and an unbending ...

“It is a little soon, but I’m also happy because, I mean, this is what I wanted, what I want.” Open’s third round of singles competition, including reaching at least the semifinals in her most recent 11 appearances in New York. She would win her first major trophy 12 months later at the U.S. Billie Jean King, a Hall of Famer with 39 total Grand Slam titles across singles, doubles and mixed doubles, raised her cellphone to capture the scene. He was the central figure in the Oscar-winning film “King Richard,” produced by his daughters. 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. … (But) I’m ready to be a mom, explore a different version of Serena,” she said. That’s that’s just who she is: She’s the greatest of all time. And what she’s done for me, for the sport of tennis, is incredible,” said Tomljanovic, who has never been past the quarterfinals at any major. Open in the third round by Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1 on Friday night in what is expected to be her final contest. “I’m so grateful to every single person that’s ever said, ‘Go, Serena!’ in their life.”

Serena and Tiger made different choices when it came to playing in South Carolina when the Confederate flag was still flying over the statehouse.

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Serena Williams, considered by many to be the greatest women's tennis player ever, is also the GOAT on Twitter among female athletes.

Open. Open tournament, Twitter launched an exclusive GOAT emoji -- with a tennis skirt and racket -- to honor Williams’ final tournament and greatest-of-all-time-level career. On the first day of the U.S.

Analytics, scouting first-time opponents, additional coaching input, new footwork drills and treating doubles like practice — so far it's adding up to ...

With Serena Williams' whimsical final run at the U.S. Open in Queens at it's rockstar end, her biggest fans were along for the ride soaking in every ...

Tennis champion Serena Williams probably played the final match of her career at the U.S. Open on Friday night, and it was as unforgettable as her impact on ...

(And there was controversy too: In 2009 there were people who, [wrongly](https://nymag.com/daily/sports/2009/09/serena_williams.html), wanted her banned from the U.S. Government Has Forced Me to Side With Novak Djokovic](//nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/08/the-government-has-forced-me-to-side-with-novak-djokovic.html) [See All](//nymag.com/tags/tennis) (This is not dissimilar to how universally beloved Muhammad Ali was at the end of his life despite [ being one of the most unpopular figures in the country for a large percentage of it](https://web.archive.org/web/20160715201446/https:/www.sportsonearth.com/article/182464088/muhammad-ali-died-race-activism-lebron-james).) The Williams sisters — and, specifically, their dad — were seen as a blight on tennis when they arrived in the late ‘90s, too brash, too unrefined and, mostly, too Black; their very presence was seen as an affront to the sport itself. [a fashion icon](https://www.thecut.com/2015/08/serena-williams-still-has-tennis-history-to-make.html), an entrepreneur, a public figure of unparalleled influence, and an avatar of power, grace, and fierce independence. Serena Williams is only 40, which is old for a tennis player but not old for anyone else. This despite the sisters themselves being unfailingly polite and endearingly precocious, real teenagers — not forged in some tennis academy lab, so earnest and star-struck by the tennis stars they adored and were suddenly surrounded by that they self-published [ a tennis newsletter called Tennis Monthly Recap](https://slate.com/culture/2015/09/serena-and-venus-williams-the-sisters-used-to-write-their-own-newsletter-it-was-pretty-good.html) which featured articles written by Serena and Venus about the sport they were just about to dominate. Open for an emotional outburst at an umpire.) The way Serena was embraced in her final U.S. The night was a valediction to Williams, but not just her — also her sister, her family, and really the entire last 25 years of tennis. Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, was the greatest women’s player of her generation, possibly of all time. While the powers that be were trying to run them out of the sport, the Williams sisters were interviewing tour players and writing about their nervousness. But if this really was the end, her riveting loss to Ajla Tomljanovic was a fitting public farewell, with an entire stadium (and an entire sporting public at home) saying an emotional goodbye to someone they’ve spent a large portion of their lives watching. A whole bunch of the same people who were celebrating Serena last night desperately wanted her and her sister to go away when they first arrived.

Following is reaction to Serena Williams' defeat by Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic at the U.S. Open on Friday, likely to be the last match of the 23-times ...

When the 23-time major champion says she's retiring, maybe it's time to believe her – and for her to believe herself.

It was a weight only redoubled by the two strikes against her in American society: being born a woman and being born black. Then a fourth, then a fifth as the match extended past the three-hour mark. Other than winning the whole tournament, it was the perfect way to go out: 15 minutes of pure fight. When Williams won her first of 23 grand slam titles at the 1999 US Open as a 17-year-old, her road to the trophy included five opponents who one day would end up in the Hall of Fame: Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martínez, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis. Even as she fielded a congratulatory phone call from President Clinton afterward, it was impossible to fully reckon the extent to which her triumph would shape the perception of female athletes in the new millennium. She will continue to define success on her own terms as she has for nearly three decades in the unsparing public eye as a working-class black woman from Compton who rewrote the record books of a sport predominantly owned, played and watched by affluent white people. [only the latest example of a great champion](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/mar/14/tom-bradys-nfl-return-is-both-understandable-and-potentially-foolish) finding it hard to close the book on the glory days. [Serena Williams](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/serena-williams) Invitational over the course of five days that boasted record attendances and US television ratings – has been so fulfilling. Even in the cathartic aftermath of [Friday night’s third-round defeat](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/sep/02/serena-williams-ajla-tomljanovi-us-open-tennis-third-round-retirement) to Ajla Tomljanović, the sudden deluge of tears seemed to express a finality that she either could not or would not articulate in words. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to do that.” With a marriage to a supportive partner who shares her values, a daughter who just turned five and a venture capital firm that has raised more than $100m, there will be no crisis over her sense of purpose. But these extended farewells almost always end in a messy defeat: as a last act, Friday night’s epic in front of roaring crowd on Arthur Ashe was about as good as it gets.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner revealed how she plans to spend her time after Friday's loss.

When the COVID-19 pandemic suspended play on the WTA Tour, Williams had the chance to visualize what her life might resemble without the sport she has loved since childhood. Moments after one of the most dramatic matches of her career, Williams shared plans of what she looked forward to doing most after Friday’s loss. Open, the event where she won her first Grand Slam title in 1999 at age 17. Williams delivered a tenacious performance in the longest of her three matches in the 2022 U.S. But in her time away, Williams got an opportunity to envision life without having to go to the gym. [shared her “evolution” from the sport on Aug.

Serena Williams' 23 Grand Slam singles titles is an Open Era record, one shy of Margaret Court for the all-time lead. USA TODAY Sports ranks them all.

It was Williams' seventh Wimbledon crown. Williams' 16th consecutive victory against Sharapova was eventful — she threw up during the match — and ended on an ace. 2 on the all-time list. Williams' first French Open title, starting her run of four consecutive major crowns ... 1 in the world for the first time since Aug. Williams became the oldest women's Grand Slam singles champion in the Open era — a mark she continues to set and reset. The first of her back-to-back dramatic finals against Azarenka in New York. The first "Serena Slam". And there were the usual questions about her wardrobe — a lime green dress that critics charged could have distracted her opponent — and her weight. A scintillating performance that landed Williams on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline "Love Her, Hate Her, She's the Best Ever." Open trophies and on Friday night saw her long-shot chances of a seventh end in a three-set loss to Ajla Tomljanovic. It was to be the last match of 2017 for Williams, who revealed in April, inadvertently at first, that she was pregnant ...

Commentary: Williams, who likely played her final match on Friday, inspired a generation by doing things her way. By Howard FendrichAssociated Press.

“Everyone looks at her and tries to be like Serena,” said Caroline Garcia, a Frenchwoman seeded 17th and into the fourth round at the U.S. It’s time, as Williams famously wrote, for her to be “evolving” away from her days as a player. It’s time for her to devote extra energy to being a mom and a businesswomen and whatever else life brings her way. “It will not be the same.” “And I’m sure that’s going to be for years to come.” Over the more than two decades since, Williams and Venus, who earned seven major singles trophies of her own, get credit for inspiring Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka and countless others to play tennis, yes, but also for pushing plenty of others to change their views about what can be done and what can’t. The 23 championships at Grand Slam tournaments that have come to define success in her sport. “She embodies that no dream is too big,” Tomljanovic said. Open – and, it seems clear, of her career – offered Williams the chance to say how she’d most like to be remembered. The 14 majors in doubles with her sister, Venus. The 319 weeks at No. “I feel like I really brought something, and bring something, to tennis.

“thank you @serenawilliams for transcending sports for black athletes, female athletes and every athlete,” Olympic gymnast Simone Biles tweeted. “such a ...

“not listening to no arguments about it i’m so sorry thats mother of all mothers,” [said another](https://twitter.com/ungodlywests/status/1565887901992247298?s=20&t=GJNjYjRV6GpVKJN9A95RbA). [shared by Twitter](https://twitter.com/TwitterSports/status/1565898343099772928) showed she was the most tweeted about female athlete of all time. It’s been the most incredible journey I’ve ever been on in my life.” But…you have carried me to so many wins and so many trophies. "It is because of you I believe in this dream." With that, Williams's run ended at the tournament, which is expected to be her last.

Sure there is a golf tournament to think about – balls to hit, putts to make, and strategy to map out as players entered the weekend at the Dana Open ...

“Serena has been one of my greatest inspirations and obviously one of the greatest tennis players ever to touch a racquet. “To me she's probably like the greatest athlete in history on the women's side, and probably on the men's. “It’s sad to see her retire and see her era on the court come to an end. Even when I see some of the LPGA moms, I'm like, wow, it's hard enough doing one thing, but to juggle, not two, it's multiple things, it's pretty crazy. “I did see a quote that she did: I'm going to go from good mom to great mom. There are things that my baby is going to experience that other babies are never going to experience. I feel special to have been alive to witness this.” She spent so much time on the court, but knowing that it was her last time, it’s obviously really special to see. “I thought that was such a perfect word. More than most, they know what Serena means to women’s sports as a whole. In what is almost certainly her last grand slam match, Serena Williams battled gallantly through three sets at the U.S. Many LPGA Tour players did just that, walking away from Highland Meadows Golf Club on Friday in time to catch a little tennis on television.

Williams finished her career at Flushing Meadows with an overall 108-15 record, winning a record six women's singles titles (tied with Chris Evert), finishing ...

In case you missed it: The defending women's champion, Emma Raducanu, is out, and the defending men's champion, Daniil Medvedev, is set for a finals-worthy ...

The U.S. Medvedev has had an unsettled season, full of forced breaks (hernia surgery and the Wimbledon ban) and defeats, even on his preferred hardcourts. She has a tough assignment on Sunday, however, as she tries to stop the resurgent Caroline Garcia of France. “Obviously it’s not in the amount as Serena, but in my own little world, I feel like brought everything to it, and my narrative was done.” “They have two of the best serves in the world and two of the best returns in the world, and in doubles you only have to cover half the court. Pegula, the No. She turned pro at 17 and soon reached the third round of all four majors, peaking at No. She came back from a major knee injury early in her career and became a hard-running baseliner. Cornet is playing the best tennis of her career at 32 and upset No. 24 in the world in 2012. 1 Novak Djokovic, who then held all four major singles titles, in the third round in 2016. Emma Raducanu, an 18-year-old Briton born in Canada with roots in China and Romania, defeated Fernandez in that final, becoming the first qualifier in the long history of the game to win a Grand Slam singles title.

On Friday, Ajla Tomljanovic bested Serena Williams in what was likely the final match of Williams' career. And she did it in front of nearly 24000 people ...

The whole moment after was just tough to handle a little bit." "I mean, no one's going to pronounce my name right," she said. "During the match I was so eager to win. "When the crowd was against him, he just pretends it's for him," she said after her second-round win. And with that, she'll be the answer to one of sport's great trivia questions. He's going to be a figure that's widely missed, even by me." It would be his final act on the track -- the image of the fallen hero, his body giving out, only adding to the legend. "It's a surreal moment. Somebody may disagree with that, but it's going to be hard to convince me." And then there are the pre-planned farewells, like Serena's, where nostalgia and belief create a frenzy to all those watching, hoping to witness one last golden moment. "I love Serena just as much as you do," Tomljanovic told the crowd, remembering how she'd idolized her growing up. There were those four memorable days at the 2009 Open where 59-year-old Tom Watson just missed out on the Claret Jug as he lost a 1-shot lead on the final day and then fell in a playoff to Stewart Cink.

Serena Williams' U.S. Open adventure is over but her legacy is a glittering 27-year career that defined a new era of tennis and inspired sponsors to take ...

“Support in those moments is key because not only does raise an element of yes, that was in the arena of sport and us supporting that athlete, but even more so, women’s rights and opportunities in that aspect,” Hvizdak said. “We continue to lead in this space and we need to pull people with us. As viewership and support continues to grow for women’s sports, brands are prepared to continue investing in female athletes and leagues. The Williams sisters were both made to endure racism throughout their careers, and Serena is no stranger to calling out double standards and unfair treatment. In March, the company also unveiled a new think-tank initiative, which includes Williams and 12 other Nike-sponsored female athletes. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA’s Michelob Ultra beer brand, another major sports sponsor, has worked with Williams in the late stages of her career, with Super Bowl ads such as one alongside WNBA star Nneka Ogwumike and Women’s World Cup champion Alex Morgan. The sports icon has worked with a number of brands, beginning with a five-year Puma SE sponsorship at the beginning of her career that was valued at $13 million. “Serena was a catalyst,” Marques said. Jeff Kearney, global head of sports marketing for Gatorade, said Serena has made a permanent impact on marketing budgets everywhere and her overwhelming success convinced the PepsiCo Inc. Soccer Federation announced only this year that male and female athletes would be compensated equally, and pay disparities persist for female golf, basketball and tennis players. (The company has also dedicated the largest building on its Beaverton campus to her.) Delta Air Lines Inc. By changing nothing, she changed everything is the tagline.

On Friday, Serena played what was likely her final tennis match, losing to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 US Open. In celebration of ...

Soon after that, I started a family. A few years ago I quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. I just thank everyone that’s here, that’s been on my side so many years, decades.

Is Serena Williams' tennis career over? The legendary women's tennis star played in what could be the final match of her career on Friday night, losing in ...

You showed me what it means to fight, on and off the court. "I’m so grateful I got to be on the same court as you. The legendary women's tennis star played in what could be the final match of her career on Friday night, losing in the third round of the U.S.

New York Times photographers had their eyes, and lenses, on Williams since that first Open, when she lost to Irina Spirlea in the third round. It did not take ...

Open when she was 16 and walked off the court on Friday a few weeks from turning 41. Photographers captured Williams’s highs and lows from crowded courtside seating to the upper nosebleed seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium. New York Times photographers had their eyes, and lenses, on Williams since that first Open, when she lost to Irina Spirlea in the third round.

After Serena Williams, a question for women's tennis: What's next? Image without a caption. By Ava Wallace.

She faces one of the hottest players on the tour, 17th-seeded Caroline Garcia, in the quarterfinals Tuesday. The 23-time Grand Slam winner set the bar astronomically high for stars in women’s tennis — both on and off the court. Open champion remembers wondering what the sport would do when Bjorn Borg retired in 1983. And it just bounced back in one or two years. The lag left room for a couple years between her dominance and Williams’s first Grand Slam win at the U.S. She riled up the crowd by wagging her finger after winning big points and generated an atmosphere that was so loud — with the roof over Ashe closed to keep away light rain — that Zhang clasped her hands over her ears at one point. Gauff, still, could be far from imitating Williams and capturing her first Grand Slam trophy in Flushing Meadows. It was a thrilling follow-up to Gauff’s French Open finals appearance in June, when she lost to Swiatek. As women’s tennis has shown, it’s been hard to be dominant,” Pegula said, referring to the 14 winners in the 21 major tournaments contested since Williams won her last in 2017. Tennis Association thinks will draw the biggest crowds. The energy started to seep, and throughout Friday players were asked for their thoughts on the potential end of Williams’s career. When Chris Evert retired at the U.S.

Lewis Hamilton has paid tribute to Serena Williams, saying: She has such fierceness, power, and strength in both body and mind. To be so bold, Black, ...

He continued: "Still today you remind me to never give up, you remind me what we stand for and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. To be so bold, Black, brave and, above all, a kind and caring human being is beautiful. To be so bold, Black, brave and, above all, a kind and caring human being is beautiful" "I remember watching her and Venus at their first games with my dad on TV. She came through like a wrecking ball and has been so spectacular to witness. She has such fierceness, power, and strength in both body and mind.

The Formula One star paid homage to the tennis legend two days after her third-round loss at the U.S. Open.

On Sunday, prior to competing in the Dutch Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton added to the still-growing number of tributes with a [heartfelt Instagram post](https://www.instagram.com/p/CiFR0_PMNXw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link) paying homage to the GOAT for her incredible 27-year run. The 37-year-old star has recently opened up about the hardships of his She came through like a wrecking ball and has been so spectacular to witness. To be so bold, Black, brave and, above all, a kind and caring human being is beautiful.” Open on Friday, leaving behind a legacy that transcended the sport and made her an icon around the world. “Taking a moment before the race today to show my appreciation and gratitude to the greatest of all time, @serenawilliams,” Hamilton wrote.