As she left the track at the Rod Laver Arena on Thursday, Serena Williams paused when the newly returned crowd got up and showered her with applause. She raised her left arm to wave before moving her hand over her heart, as if to let it be known that the feeling was mutual. She paused, drenched in ovation like the late summer Melbourne sun, and waved one more time before disappearing into the tunnel.
Her run at the 2021 Australian Open was over, finishing in straight sets in the semi-finals by her heir to the throne, Naomi Osaka. And then the questions started … on television, social media and maybe even from your own couch: was the game the only thing that was over?
Less than an hour later, while sitting on computers in front of dozens of members of the media in person and others around the world, Williams was asked if the moment in court was some sort of goodbye.
“I don’t know,” she said at her press conference. “If I ever said goodbye, I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
She smiled, but it faded quickly. When the next reporter started asking an innocent question about the unusual number of casual mistakes Williams had in the game, she tried to hold back tears by drinking water, looking down, or covering her eyes with her visor. Her voice broke as she started to answer.
“I don’t know,” she said, before rising abruptly and saying, “I’m done.”
Williams was gone again, leaving more questions than answers.
While Williams himself has not given any concrete indication of impending retirement, the 39-year-old’s time in the sport is inevitably approaching some sort of end. And whether this was really the last time we saw Williams at the Australian Open or whether she’s still playing for several years, the sport is better thanks to her, as shown in part by Osaka herself.
It seemed like everything came together for Williams these two weeks. She played arguably her best tennis since returning from maternity leave in 2018 and entered the tournament injury-free after recovering from a lingering Achilles tendon injury that forced her to withdraw during the pandemic-delayed French Open in September.
Williams held off the mighty Aryna Sabalenka in three sets in the fourth round in Melbourne. She had dismantled World No. 2 Simona Halep, who beat Williams in the quarter-final in the 2019 Wimbledon final.
After winning seven titles in Melbourne – including her most recent in 2017 when she was pregnant with her daughter Olympia – the city and the tournament hold a special place in the heart of Williams, and it seemed like the perfect place to make history. She has won 23 major titles and has been one away from matching Margaret Court’s long-standing record since returning in 2018 and has come so close – with four Grand Slam finals and two semifinals in that period.
For this last chance, Williams had to get past Osaka again. The 23-year-old had won their previous big meeting in their famous 2018 US Open final and it was just a coincidence that Williams got another chance against Osaka with so much at stake. In a battle of the greatest of all time against today’s greatest, Williams wanted to prove she was still both.
But Osaka from Serena-ed Serena, just better in all the ways Williams has dominated tennis for so long. Osaka had six aces (against Williams’s three) and a first serve win rate of 85%, won all four of her breakpoints and recorded 20 blistering winners. After a nerve-racking two-game opening in which she struggled with her pitch, Osaka never opened the door for Williams again.
Osaka reached her fourth grand final where she takes on American Jennifer Brady and tries to improve to a perfect 4-0 when she plays on the biggest stage. Since her first win at the 2018 US Open, Osaka – which represents Japan but grew up and is based in the United States – has risen up the ranks and become one of the most visible athletes in the world. Like many others, she owes her American counterpart Williams for this.
Osaka’s father started her and her sister somewhat famous in tennis now due to the success of Williams and her sister Venus. Following Richard Williams’s blueprint, he placed rackets in the hands of his two young daughters.
“My young aspirations owe so much to Serena and Venus,” Osaka wrote in a column for The Telegraph last month. Without those pioneers, there would be no Naomi, no Coco [Gauff], no Sloane [Stephens], not Madison [Keys]Everything we did was inspired by them, and my sister and I would dream of playing them in a Grand Slam final one day. “
The success of the Williams sisters motivated many to take up a sport they might not otherwise have considered. At the US Open 2020, there were a record 12 black women, almost 10% of the field, in the draw for the singles. Teenage Robin Montgomery belonged to the group and she did not hesitate to discuss the sisters’ influence on her life when speaking to ESPN before the tournament.
“Of course Serena and Venus have been my role models since I was young,” she said. “My goal is to have the opportunity to inspire the younger generations as Serena and Venus could inspire my generation and so many other generations.”
Throughout her storied career, Serena Williams has been so much more than ‘just’ a tennis player. She is a pop culture icon with a name, a celebrated businesswoman, a frequent magazine cover star, and a vigorous advocate for racial and gender equality. Osaka has followed the path that Williams paved, finding her own voice and identity.
Williams’s legacy is about much more than trophies and records and aces, though those were impressive. Not surprisingly, we see Osaka talking about gender equality at a post-game press conference, as she did on Thursday; she is not afraid to take a stand because she has seen it happen countless times before.
Osaka will try to replenish her trophy cabinet on Saturday as she competes for her fourth Grand Slam title in her career. Williams will have to wait for her next chance to win another one if she plans to play on. Williams later took to Instagram on Thursday and posted a photo of herself wearing one of her signature Nike T-shirts and standing with outstretched arms next to a note to Australian fans.
“I am so honored to play for all of you,” said part of her post. “Your support – your cheers, I only wish I could have done better for you today. I’m forever in debt and grateful to all of you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.
Many will no doubt speculate about Thursday’s post and events, but it’s only up to Williams to decide when it’s time to walk away. She more than deserves that. But when asked about the eventual end of Williams’ storied career, Osaka seemed to speak for all Williams fans.
“It’s pretty sad when you put it that way, because for me I want her to play forever,” she said. “That’s the little kid in me.”