Ajla Tomljanovic drew curtains on Serena Williams’ professional tennis career on Friday evening at the 2022 US Open. The Australian defeated the six-time former US Open winner 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1 after three hours and five minutes of play.
Tomljanovic started the match with a break and in many ways, this set the tone for what was to come later in the proceedings. The Australian conceded the break back in the second game and the set proceeded on serve for the next couple of games. Shot-making was potent from both players marked by occasional bursts of errors but was Williams who secured the second break in the set – in the eighth game – with the chance of serving it out in the ninth game. Williams’ serve, however, let her down and she handed the break right back without even bringing up a set point. Two games later, a third break on the 40-year-old’s serve gave Tomljanovic the chance to serve out the set and this time around, she made no mistake in consolidating the break to take the set.
Williams’ comeback was forceful in the second set as she secured a double-break lead to go up 4-0. But as in the first, Williams’ woes on her serve started emerging once again and she failed to consolidate the second break for a 5-0 lead. A couple of games later, while serving at 2-5 down, Tomljanovic fended off four set points and whittled Williams’ lead to 5-3. And like in the first set, Williams tried to serve for the second set in the ninth game with the same result as before – she couldn’t bring up any set point for herself, giving back the break to her opponent. The ensuing tie-break, too, seemed to be slipping from Williams’ hands as Tomljanovic snuffed out a couple of mini-breaks to level the tie-break at four-all, before Williams dug up shots from her kitty to pocket the tie-break and the set, to level the match.
Williams broke Tomljanovic in the first game. As it would turn out, it was the only game she won in the set. Williams’ serve failed to hold up thereafter and she found herself going down two more breaks of serve quickly, which gave Tomljanovic the opportunity to serve for the match in the seventh game. Williams’ tenaciousness helped her stave off five match points just as Tomljanovic’s grittiness helped her erase four break points. Finally, an ace brought up the 28-year-old’s sixth match point which she converted after Williams’ shot found the net.
US Open: Serena Williams’ final match stats
Unlike in the first two matches where Williams’ serve had paved the day for her, against Tomljanovic, it constantly came under pressure. There were also moments when she found herself stranded on the court, being unable to come up with any answers to Tomljanovic’s shots. The 23-time Grand Slam champion had 49 winners, way higher than the Australian’s 32. But she also had 51 unforced errors that were just as high as the latter’s 30.
While Serena Williams bid an emotional and tearful farewell to the Tour after the result, Ajla Tomljanovic will play Liudmila Samsonova in the second week of the US Open. Samsonova defeated Aleksandra Krunic 6-3, 6-3 in their third-round match.
Photo Credit: Simon Bruty/USTA