Serena loses 1st match since retirement announement
Published August 11, 2022 at 2:43 pm
TORONTO (AP) — Serena Williams has lost her first match since telling the world she is ready to leave professional tennis.
No one knows exactly how many more matches Williams will play before walking away, and the 23-time Grand Slam champion exited the National Bank Open on Wednesday night with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Belinda Bencic.
The second-round match at the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open came a day after the 40-year-old Williams announced “the countdown has begun” on her playing career, saying she wants to have another child and pursue business interests.
She did not state precisely what her last event will be, but did make it sound as if her final goodbyes could come at the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 29 in New York.
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