Serena Williams turns emotional in her farewell on-court interview in Toronto

Threaded
with
emotion

Bencic
fired
eight
aces
and
broke
Serena
twice
in
the
first
set
and
once
in
the
second,
advancing
on
her
first
match
point.
But
as
Bencic
herself
said
in
the
post-match
interview
on
court:
“Tonight
is
about
her.”

And
as
expected
Serena’s
farewell
on-court
interview
was
threaded
with
emotion.

Countdown
starts

“I
love
playing
here,
I’ve
always
loved
playing
here,”
she
said,
choking
up
as
fans
who
cheered
her
throughout
the
match
called
out
their
appreciation.
“I
wish
I
could
have
played
better
tonight,
but
Belinda
was
playing
so
well.”

Serena,
who
turns
41
next
month,
had
beaten
Spaniard
Diaz
for
her
first
singles
victory
since
the
2021
French
Open,
14
months
ago.
But
it
sent
shockwaves
through
the
sport
when
she
revealed
in
an
essay
in

Vogue
magazine
and
an
Instagram
post
that
“the
countdown
has
begun”
to
her
retirement
from
the
sport.

Goodbye
Toronto

Serena
did
not
specify
an
actual
retirement
date
but
is
expected
to
compete
next
week
in
Cincinnati
before
travelling
to
the
US
Open,
which
starts
on
August
29.
She
has
lifted
the
US
Open
title
six
times,
including
her
first
Grand
Slam
triumph
at
the
age
of
17
in
1999.

“It’s
been
a
pretty
interesting
24
hours,”
said
Serena,
who
remains
one
shy
of
the
all-time
record
of
24
Grand
Slam
singles
titles
won
by
Margaret
Court.
“Like
I
said
in
my
article,
I’m
terrible
at
goodbyes,”
she
said,
her
voice
breaking.
“But,
goodbye,”
she
said,
then
adding
with
a
laugh
“Toronto.”
“It’s
been
a
joy
playing
here
all
of
those
years.”

For
Olympia

Serena’s
match
was
preceded
by
a
video
tribute
played
for
fans.
Before
she
left
the
court
she
was
presented
with
jerseys
from
the
NBA’s
Toronto
Raptors
and
NHL’s
Toronto
Maple
Leafs
–
and
with
a
child’s
version
of
the
same
for
daughter
Olympia.

In
explaining
that
she
was
“evolving
away”
from
tennis
in
the

Vogue
article,
Serena
said
she
wanted
to
focus
on
family
life
and
new
business
ventures.