Serena Williams’ Legendary Career Ends After Third-Round U.S. Open Loss

Topline

Tennis legend Serena Williams’s record-setting career came to an end Wednesday after she lost her third-round U.S. Open match to Australian Ajla Tomljanović in front of a packed house at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Key Facts

Surprising Fact

Williams’ first major title came at the 1999 U.S. Open, when the 17-year-old beat Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis, who was World No. 1 at the time. She also shares the record of most U.S. Open singles titles (six) in the Open era with Chris Evert. But it’s also been the site of two of her most controversial losses. In 2018, trailing Naomi Osaka, Williams had a heated clash with the umpire that cost her first a point, then a game penalty, and she lost in straight sets. And in 2009, Williams lost a semifinal to Kim Clijsters after a profanity-laced outburst at a line judge led to the umpire penalizing her on match point, quickly ending the match in Clijsters’ favor.

Big Number

23. That is the total number of Grand Slam singles titles Serena Williams has won, more than any other player—man or woman—in the Open Era. Only Australia’s Margaret Court, with 24 Grand Slams titles, has won more.

What To Watch For

What she does next. In a Vogue essay, Williams outlined her future plans saying she was “evolving away” from the sport to focus on “other things that are important to me.” She refused to term her move as a “retirement” saying it “doesn’t feel like a modern word to me.” She said she wants to focus on her business interests along with growing her family. Williams is married to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and the couple has a five-year-old daughter, Olympia. Serena’s last Grand Slam title came at the 2017 Australian Open, which she won while she was two months into her pregnancy.

Key Background

Williams is widely regarded as the greatest women’s player of all time. Along with her 23 singles major championships, she has also won 14 women’s doubles and two mixed doubles majors, for a total of 39 Grand Slam titles. Williams has also won four Olympic Gold medals—one singles title at the London 2012 games and three doubles with sister Venus at the Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 games. Williams is also the only woman to have won four major singles titles in a row—a non-calendar Grand Slam also referred to as a ‘Serena Slam’—twice. Williams’ last grand slam title—the 2017 Australian Open—came at the age of 36, making her the oldest woman to win the tournament in the Open era. In fact, Williams’ career records after turning 30 are unmatched and they include 10 of her 23 major singles titles. No other woman has won more than three singles Grand Slam titles after turning 30. With a career haul of $94.6 million, Williams has won more prize money on court than any other woman in history and is in fourth place among all players only behind Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Forbes Valuation

$260 million. That is William’s total net worth according to Forbes estimates, which puts her 90th on the 2022 list of America’s richest self-made women.