There will be no fairytale ending for Serena Williams at the US Open.
The 23-time major singles champion was eliminated from the tournament she has won six times with a 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1 defeat to Ajla Tomljanović on Friday night before another rollicking audience of nearly 24,000 spectators at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Williams, who entered the tournament ranked 605th with only one match win in nearly 15 months, had rolled back the years in her first week at Flushing Meadows with a series of vintage showings beneath the lights of the world’s biggest tennis stadium. This one, a stirring back-and-forth encounter of high intensity that unfolded over more than three hours, was somehow her most rousing performance yet.
She battered Tomljanović back with 115mph serves and flat groundstrokes that exploded off the strings. She came to net and glided about the whole court with a fluidity thought long gone and punctuated winners with guttural roars. But Tomljanović, a 29-year-old Australian ranked 46th, was unrattled by an enthusiastic crowd that cheered her service faults and errors and called out repeatedly between her first and second serves.
Trailing 5-3 in the opener with Williams serving for the set, she won four straight games to stake the early edge. Then from a 2-5 deficit in the second, she fought off four set points before finally bowing in a tiebreaker, but not before extending the middle act to a taxing 83 minutes and making her 40-year-old opponent expend valuable energy.
After Tomljanović was broken immediately to open the decider, she rattled off six straight games to slam the door on the American star in what is expected to be the final tournament of her glittering 27-year professional career.
When she netted a forehand on match point after 3hr 5min, Williams twirled for the adoring crowd before giving an on-court interview.
“I tried, Alja just played a little bit [better],” Williams said, fighting through tears. “Thank you, daddy. I know you’re watching. Thanks, mom. It all started with my parents and they deserve everything.
“I wouldn’t be Serena if there wasn’t Venus, so thank you, Venus. She’s the only reason that Serena Williams ever existed.
“It’s been a fun ride. I’m just so grateful to every single person that’s ever said ‘Go Serena’ in their life. You got me here.”
