The End

NEW YORK, September 3

A defiant Serena Williams bid an emotional goodbye to the US Open with a third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanovic on Friday, in what may have been the last singles match of her glittering career. Defeat has always been hard to swallow for the fiercely competitive Williams and no doubt the 7-5 6-7(4) 6-1 loss to the 46th-ranked Australian stung her to her core.

But after a joyous run into the third round there was no shame in a loss to the gritty Tomljanovic, allowing the 23-time Grand Slam winner to exit with dignity intact and head held high.

I think she embodies that no dream is too big and it doesn’t matter where you come from, or the circumstances. You can do anything if you believe in yourself and you love what you do and have an incredible support system and family around you. —Ajla Tomljanovic, Serena’s opponent

Congrats on an amazing career! How lucky were we to be able to watch a young girl from Compton grow up to become one of the greatest athletes of all time. I’m proud of you, my friend—and I can’t wait to see the lives you continue to transform with your talents. —Michelle Obama, Former US first lady

You’re literally the greatest on and off the court. Thank you for inspiring all of us to pursue our dreams. I love you little sis!!!!!! —Tiger Woods, Golfer

Her incredible career made its mark on tennis history. And yet her greatest contributions may be yet to come. Thank you, @serenawilliams. Your journey continues. —Billie Jean King, Former world no. 1

Her three matches, highlighted by a second-round win over world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit, were a gift to her fans, the relentless never-surrender attitude that made her tennis’ dominant player for over two decades on display right until the very final point. “Clearly I’m still capable,” Williams told reporters. “But it takes a lot more than that. I’m ready to be a mom, explore a different version of Serena. Technically in the world I’m still super young, so I want to have a little bit of a life while I’m still walking. I have such a bright future ahead of me.

Always up for a fight, the 40-year-old came out swinging, forcing Tomljanovic to go the distance. The Australian needed six match points to deliver the knockout punch and bring an end to an engrossing slugfest that went on for more than three hours.

Medvedev vs Kyrgios

Defending champion Daniil Medvedev cruised into the fourth round with a straightforward 6-4 6-2 6-2 victory over Chinese qualifier Wu Yibing on Friday to set up a blockbuster clash with Australia’s Nick Kyrgios.

The Russian blazed past Stefan Kozlov and Arthur Rinderknech in the last two rounds and looked every bit the champion again, as he fired 12 aces and converted six of 12 break points to comfortably dispatch his 22-year-old opponent.

“If you ask me what I could improve, I don’t see many things,” Medvedev said of his title defence. “Maybe a little bit less double-faults, but that’s if we’re trying to dig somewhere. If not, high-level match.”

Kyrgios reached the fourth round of the US Open for the first time, notching a routine win over American wildcard JJ Wolf 6-4 6-2 6-3. — Reuters

1999: The first love

When Venus Williams burst on the scene in 1994, her father Richard was boldly predicting that his younger daughter Serena would be even better. At the US Open in 1999 she showed why. Venus was third seed and had reached the 1997 final at Flushing Meadows, while Serena was seeded seven. It was 17-year-old Serena who stole the spotlight though as she claimed the first of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles with an extraordinary run.

2003: all about ‘serena SLAM’

After her 1999 US Open triumph, Serena had to bow to older sibling for a while as Venus racked up two Wimbledon and two US Open titles in 2000 and 2001 to lead their sibling rivalry. But Serena caught fire in 2002. She beat Venus in the French Open final, the Wimbledon final and the US Open final — then at the start of 2003 got the better of Venus again to win her maiden Australian Open crown to hold all four Majors at once — the so-called ‘Serena Slam’.

2017: Grand Slam No. 23, the sweetest

Most probably her last Grand Slam title, but possibly the sweetest. Her run to the title in Melbourne, where she beat sister Venus in the final, was achieved without dropping a set. It took her past Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, returned her to world No. 1 and made her, at the age of 35, the oldest woman to win a Major. Perhaps most remarkably, however, was that we were to discover later that she won the title while pregnant with daughter Alexis Olympia.

23 Grand Slam titles: Australian Open (7), French Open (3), Wimbledon (7) and US Open (6) — the most Slams won in the Open era.

4 Four Oly gold medals: One in Sydney 2000 in doubles, one in Beijing in 2008 in doubles, two in London 2012 in singles and doubles.