Serena Williams appeared to confirm her retirement from tennis in emotional scenes after she crashed out of the US Open courtesy of a third round defeat at the hands of Ajla Tomljanovic.
Williams, who turns 41 later this month, had revealed earlier this year that she would walk away from tennis for good following her home major. But there was to be no fairytale ending for the 23-time major singles champion, who was unable to overcome Tomljanovic at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The American fought back valiantly after losing the opening set, but she eventually succumbed to her opponent, currently ranked 46 in the world rankings, 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-1, to bring her illustrious career to an end.
The defeat brings Williams' dream of claiming a record-equalling 24th grand slam singles titles to an end at the very same stadium where she won her first major singles title back in 1999.
And the tennis superstar couldn't hold back the tears when discussing her exit after the match. She said: "I thank everyone that's here, that's been on my side so many years, decades. Oh my gosh, literally decades.
"But it all started with my parents. And they deserve everything. So I'm really grateful for them. And I wouldn't be Serena if there wasn't [sister] Venus, so thank you, Venus. She's the only reason that Serena Williams ever existed."
Williams insisted that she was "evolving" away from the sport that she has dominated for over two decades rather than using the term retirement when she confirmed her plans, but she appeared to reiterate that was still the plan after her defeat at the hands of the impressive Tomljanovic.
When asked if she would reconsider retiring after her performances this week, which saw her roll back the years to reach the third round, Williams played down talk of a U-turn.
She added: "I'm literally playing my way into this and getting better. I should have started sooner this year. I don't think so, but you never know."
After clinching one of the biggest wins of her career, Tomljanovic will move on to play Russia's Liudmila Samsonova in round four of the tournament next week.
