Serena Williams’ incredible career comes to an end after defeat to respectful Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic
The ending was always going to be Serena Williams’ moment but Ajla Tomljanovic, a self-proclaimed fan of the American, has summed up the occasion perfectly with her post-match words.
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It was said to be almost impossible, even Ajla Tomljanovic didn’t think she could get the win over the world’s greatest tennis star Serena Williams in her swansong US Open.
But when she did triumph in a three-hour, three-set thriller — she didn’t throw her racquet, scream in joy at the 40,000 plus crowd who were so clearly against her or jump up and down.
Tomljanovic could have.
It was without a doubt the most impressive performance of the 29-year-old’s career, including a fight back from 4-0 down, epic rallies, and a battle through eight deuces and six match points to claim the win 7-5 6-7 6-1 against the most fierce opponent on a tennis court.
Instead she celebrated quietly, walked to her bag and packed up her racquet — happy to give the moment to Williams and let the 23-time slam winner come to terms with the fact she had just played her last professional match.
“As soon as I won I was like ‘Oh my gosh’,” Tomljanovic said.
“But then right away I felt like it was Serena’s moment. It wasn’t the usual emotion that I have after a big win, so it was a little odd what I felt.
“During the match I was so eager to win. I wanted to win as much as the next person. But when it ended I didn’t feel right.
“The whole moment after was tough to handle a little bit.”
Tomljanovic is one of the thousands of tennis players who idolise Williams.
“What she has done for me and the sport of tennis is just incredible,” Tomljanovic said.
“I never thought I’d have the chance to play her in her final match when I was watching her in all those finals as a kid.
“I just thought she would beat me, the pressure wasn’t on me, she is Serena, she is in a good position to win even when she is down 5-1, that is just who she is.
“She is the greatest of all time. Period.”
Australian commentator and doubles great Todd Woodbridge didn’t miss Tomljanovic’s fitting tribute to the American legend.
“Absolute class from Ajla Tomljanovic, both from the performance on the court tonight and also in that interview,” he told Channel 9.
“She will have won an enormous amount of fans with the way she played here tonight.”
Serena in tears as Aussie ends her incredible career
If ever a match encapsulated a career it was this one and it may leave many wondering why Serena Williams wants to walk away from the game she loves.
The 23-time slam winner’s incredible career came to an end at the hands of Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the US Open on Saturday in a three-hour epic.
Williams, who announce just last month that she would be retiring after the New York event, staged an incredible fightback against the Australian, but it was not meant to be despite saving six match points before her fate was sealed.
While the focus will rightly be on recognising the career of the greatest tennis player of all time, Tomljanovic played the greatest match of her career to secure the 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 victory.
Tina Turner’s Simply The Best was belted out around the stadium after the match ended.
“Thank you daddy, I know you’re watching, thanks mum,” Williams said as she fought back tears.
“To everyone here that has been on my side, for decades, thank you.
“It all started with my parents. They deserve everything.
“These are happy tears I guess, I don’t know.”
Paying tribute to her sister, she said: “I wouldn’t be Serena if there wasn’t Venus, she’s the reason Serena ever existed.
“To my husband to Olympia, to everyone in my box, it’s been a fun ride.
“I’m so grateful to anyone that has ever said ‘Go Serena’ in their life, you got me here.”
Asked if she might reconsider retiring Williams added: “I don’t think so, I don’t know.”
FIRST BLOOD AJLA
Tomljanovic took the bragging rights from the first set, winning 7-5.
But it was the second set that had everyone on the edge of their seats.
Williams started strong, going 4-0 up with Tomljanovic hardly getting a look in.
The Aussie refused to give up staging a comeback, which included a 15 minute game which went to deuce nine times, bringing the scores back to 6-6 and sending the set into a tie break.
Tomljanovic’s composure was outstanding considering she was up against a 40,000 strong crowd which all but gave a standing ovation each time she made a mistake - no matter how small.
Despite the six match points, Tomljanovic sealed the famous win and immediately apologised to the crowd.
“I’m feeling really sorry, I love Serena just as much as you guys, what she has done for the sport is incredible,” she said.
“I never imagined I would have the chance to play her in the last match of her career.
“I thought she would beat me, the pressure wasn’t on me, she is Serena, I didn’t think even until the last point, she was in a good position to win.
“That’s just who she is.
“She is the greatest of all time. Period.
“She embodies that no dream is too big no matter where you come from.
“I travel with my family and she has always been someone I look up to in that respect, tennis will not be the same.”
WILLIAMS 5-7, 7-6, 1-6 TOMLJANOVIC
This is now officially Serena’s longest ever US Open match (previous was v Azarenka at 2 hours 45).
Is there anything left in the tank for a third fightback?
Brutal groundstrokes from the Aussie and Serena has no response and she’s again facing a break point.
Tomljanovic playing the match of her life here and will serve for the match and a place in history.
WILLIAMS 5-7, 7-6, 1-3 TOMLJANOVIC
A huge test of Serena’s fitness coming up. The match will surpass three hours and I can’t recall the last time she was on court that long.
I keep mentioning it but Ajla’s composure is bloody incredible today, she’s continually looking for new ways to challenge Serena, mixing up her shots and not distracted by the noise.
If I had 40,000 plus people cheering my every error I'd have collapsed long before now.
An 11th ace of the match for Serena, a casual 96 mph, and she’s depending on that serve enormously at the moment, saving two break before losing the third.
WILLIAMS 5-7, 7-6, 1-2 TOMLJANOVIC
Serena first on the board with an early break in this third set, the clock just ticking over the two hours 25 minute mark but whatever she does Ajla does too.
Both players broken in their opening service games.
SECOND SET TIEBREAKWILLIAMS 7-4 TOMLJANOVIC
WE GO TO A THIRD!
Write her off at your peril folks Serena is not done yet!
WILLIAMS 5-7, 7-6 (4) TOMLJANOVIC
This is simply incredible from Tomljanovic. She’s helped significantly by Serena’s service game woes but this is a monumental moment for the Australian.
WILLIAMS 5-7, 5-4 TOMLJANOVIC
A casual 15 minute game gives you a solid idea of just how tight this match has become. Serena squandering a 4-0 advantage and this is without doubt one of the best displays I have ever seen from Ajla on a tennis court.
She’s up against 40,001 people not just Serena and is simply refusing to be overwhelmed.
So the question now is, could she do what seemed impossible just 25 minutes ago? Straight sets over Serena?
WILLIAMS 5-7, 5-2 TOMLJANOVIC
Double faults the order of the day it seems, both players really struggling for consistency - Serena’s first serve is near non existent. And it’s helped get Ajla on the board finally. The Aussie breaks back and the crowd is muted momentarily.
Then they broke their silence to boo Aussie Ben
Ben Simmons smiles as he’s lightly booed at Serena’s US Open match. pic.twitter.com/4PFIRRpF8V
— Dan Gelston (@APgelston) September 3, 2022
WILLIAMS 5-7, 4-0 TOMLJANOVIC
It’s all going Serena’s way now, pendulum has been significant. A solid lead in this second set and Ajla struggling to respond, her service game very much letting her down at the moment. A third double fault for this set, her fourth of the match woefully timed and she gifts Serena a second straight break opportunity. AND SHE TAKES IT.
GAME ON
THINKING OF NOVAK
Before the clash, Tomljanovic said she would channel her inner Novak Djokovic.
“I remember Novak saying when the crowd was against him, he just pretends it’s for him. When they chant, Rafa, Roger, whoever, he hears Novak, Novak,” said Tomljanovic.
“I kind of liked that response. I might use that on Friday night.” The 29-year-old is no stranger to upsetting home hopes at a Grand Slam. At Wimbledon last year, she faced down Centre Court before Emma Raducanu was forced to retire from their last-16 clash.
HOW TIGER WOODS INSPIRED SERENA
Were it not for a conversation Serena Williams had with Tiger Woods in April, she may well have been reclining with her feet up at home rather than lighting up New York with this scintillating US Open run.
Woods, sitting in Williams’s box to watch her second-round victory against the No 2 seed, Anett Kontaveit, was among the 23,000 spectators on their feet, intensely pumping his fist as if he had just secured another Green Jacket at Augusta. Having won the last of his 15 majors aged 43 at the 2019 Masters, his words to Williams held particular weight and he encouraged her to return for one last go at Wimbledon and the US Open this summer.
“He’s one of the reasons I’m here, one of the main reasons I’m still playing,” Williams said. “We talked a lot. He was really trying to get me motivated. There’s a few people, but we were like, ‘OK, we can do this together.’
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“It was good, because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was just lost, with so many questions. When you can rely on someone like that — I mean, my goodness, he’s Tiger Woods. It was really helpful to get clarity.”
There is a sense that something quite special is brewing here. The noise of the partisan spectators whooping and hollering throughout the course of Williams’s 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-2 victory has probably never been exceeded at the great Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis venue in the world, to the extent that even those playing on other courts were distracted.
“It’s almost tough playing because the noise was so loud,” Jack Draper, playing on the adjacent Louis Armstrong Stadium at the time, said. “You felt like everything was vibrating.”
There are still five more wins required for the fairytale finish of a record-equalling 24th grand-slam singles title, but already her many supporters are daring to dream. And so they should after Williams, less than four weeks short of her 41st birthday, rolled back the years with a performance that ranks as her finest for some time.
For someone who had played only five singles matches in 14 months beforehand, Williams was strikingly sharp from the start on Wednesday night. She had to be as the 26-year-old Kontaveit – coached by Emma Raducanu’s former mentor Torben Beltz – missed little from the back of the court in the early stages.
Tiger appreciating Serena. Cool moment. pic.twitter.com/Spr3nGfY7M
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) September 1, 2022
Williams was first to break, for 5-4 in the first set, but a poor service game gifted it straight back. After some enthralling baseline exchanges, she edged ahead in the tie-break with a mini-break for 5-3, then converted a first set point at 6-4 with an ace out wide on the 63-minute mark.
After all the exertion required to take the set, a dip in Williams’s level of play then followed. Kontaveit raced 4-1 ahead with a double break before firing an ace down the middle to level the match. As the crowd sat in silence, Williams left the court for a bathroom break before what was potentially the last set of competitive singles that she would ever play.
It was a privilege to watch greatness. Congrats @serenawilliams
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) September 1, 2022
When she returned, Williams rediscovered the consistency that had helped her claim the opening set. A break ahead at 3-1, she controlled the rallies to gradually tire Kontaveit, who has struggled at times this year with the symptoms of long Covid. The Estonian looked exhausted at 5-2 down and lost four straight points on serve, with Williams claiming victory courtesy of a blistering backhand return winner down the line.
“Honestly I’m just looking at it as a bonus,” Williams said. “I don’t have anything to prove. I don’t have anything to win. And I have absolutely nothing to lose.
“Honestly I never get to play like this, since 1998, really. Literally I’ve had an X on my back since 1999. It’s kind of fun and I really enjoy just coming out and enjoying it. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to do that.”
Asked if she believes she can win the tournament, Williams replied: “I cannot think that far. I’m here, I’m having fun and I’m enjoying it. Honestly I’ve had so many tough matches that I feel like just being prepared for everyone that I play is going to be really, really difficult.”
Once again Williams has been given the first slot of a night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium for the prime-time audience. Her opponent tonight (Friday) is Ajla Tomljanovic, the world No 46 from Australia, who cited her fourth-round match against Raducanu on No 1 Court at Wimbledon last year – the one in which Raducanu retired midway through the second set because of breathing difficulties – as useful preparation for her latest task.
“I remember coming off that match and thinking, ‘Wow, that was intense,’ ” Tomljanovic, 29, said. “It got to me a little, the volume of the crowd.
“But I remember Novak (Djokovic) saying one time, when they asked him a lot about this, (that) when the crowd was against him, he just pretends it’s for him. When they chant, I don’t know, for Rafa (Nadal), Roger (Federer) or whoever, he hears: ‘Novak, Novak.’ I kind of liked that response. I might use that on Friday night.”
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