"Thanks dad, I know you're looking at me. Thanks, mom. My God, thanks to all those who have been with me during this incredible journey, which lasted years, decades. It all started with my parents, I have to say thanks especially to them. These are tears of joy. And I would not have been the Serena that I was, without Venus, my sister. It is the only reason that I am here now. but you never know ... "Between tears Serena Williams said goodbye to tennis, perhaps.
She did so at the end of the match lost to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the US Open after a marathon of almost three hours.
Accompanied by the background music of Tina Turner's The Best and the cheering of the Arthur Ashe audience, Williams couldn't hold back the emotion.
Her thanks to her family origin, her sisters Venus, her husband and daughter Olympia, her staff for a leave from the world of tennis.
"For some time I thought that last year's Wimbledon could remain my last tournament - he explained at the press conference - and the fact that I finished in another way gives me greater serenity, it puts that tournament in another light. I have shown that I am still capable of playing at a high level, but I am ready to be a mom, to explore a new version of myself.
Technically we say that as a person I am still young, so I want to take advantage of this to enjoy something different in life.
What am I going to do tomorrow?
I'll be with my daughter, I'll be a mom. "" The thing I'm most proud of in my career?
Roland Garros 2015, having won that tournament - she said - I almost died and yet I won, I am very proud of how I did it.
In any case, tennis will remain a part of my life, I'm sure.
I still can't see how, but I'll stay in the world of tennis, which has given me so many opportunities over the years. "
The "most incredible journey of my life", Williams summed up, ended at the end of meeting number 1,014 of an unparalleled career.
Within weeks of her 41st birthday, she played her last match in the stadium where she announced her breakthrough in the tennis world by winning the 1999 US Open. Serena Williams leaves tennis after winning 73 trophies.
She is the fifth most titled player in WTA history.
She was number 1 for 319 weeks in eight different periods between 2002 and 2017. she Twice she has won the four majors (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open) one after the other although not in the same season.
She succeeded between 2002 and 2003 and between 2014 and 2015. She ended her career with a balance of 858 wins and 156 defeats,
of 367-56 in the Slams, 108-15 at the US Open.
She has won four Olympic golds and earned a total tournament prize pool of over $ 94 million, the highest ever for a woman in tennis history.
But her story has a meaning that goes far beyond tennis, as evidenced by the social media tributes of former US First Lady Michelle Obama or Oprah Winfrey or Le Bron James.
