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There should have been a warmer moment at the net with Ajla Tomljanovic, after the three-hour, three-set battle, than just a cursory handshake. But Serena Williams has never lost politely at the U.S. Open.
Otherwise, it was a perfect sendoff for Serena.
Great run, great week, great match, great career. Three great nights at Flushing Meadows, where the 25,000 fans at 25-year-old Arthur Ashe Stadium never sounded louder.
Williams was an aging, past-her-prime championship boxer who wouldn’t fall to the mat in the end. Down 5-1 and beyond exhaustion, she saved five match-ending, career-ending points against Tomljanovic’s serve. She punched herself out in the thrilling second-set tiebreak win.
“I’ve been down before. I’ve been down like 5-1, I think, before and come back,’’ Williams said late Friday. “I don’t really give up. Yeah, I think in my career I never gave up.’’
She never gave up from the day she was born in Compton, Calif. That final game should be the last memory of Serena on a tennis court — even though it became a loss.
Williams has hedged slightly since her announcement in “Vogue” last month that she was “evolving away from tennis.” On the “Today” show before the tournament, Williams responded, “Never say never,’’ and she repeated it on the court late Friday.
