Tearful superstar Serena Williams wins worldwide ovation after final match

Serena Williams was hailed as the greatest tennis player of all time yesterday after she played what is likely to be her last professional game.

The 40-year-old superstar, who announced plans to retire last month in an interview with Vogue, has won 23 grand slam singles titles, the most by any player in the modern era.

Tens of thousands of fans had flocked to Flushing Meadows to cheer on Williams in her final match in the early hours yesterday. The crowd raised the roof at the Arthur Ashe stadium, where she won her first major tournament in 1999, as Williams took a final bow soundtracked by Tina Turner’s Simply the Best.

In a tearful interview after losing her match, Williams paid tribute to her sister, Venus, who is also an all-time tennis great, and her father and former coach, Richard, who famously trained the sisters on glass-strewn public courts in Compton, California.

Williams, who played her first professional match in 1995, said: “Thank you, daddy, I know you’re watching. Thanks, mom. I just thank everyone that’s here, that’s been on my side for so many years, literally decades, But it all started with my parents and they deserve everything so I’m really grateful for them. And I wouldn’t be Serena if there wasn’t Venus, so thank you, Venus. It’s been a fun ride.”

Williams, who told the crowds she wants to be remembered as a fighter, has been open about wanting to have another child, as well as spend more time with her five-year-old daughter, Olympia.

She said: “I’m ready to be a mom, explore a different version of Serena. Technically in the world I’m still super young, so I want to have a little bit of a life while I’m still walking.”

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The tennis great also hinted that she could still be involved in the sport, saying: “Tennis has been such a huge part of my life, I can’t imagine not being involved in tennis. I don’t know what that involvement is yet.”

Asked after her match how she wanted to be remembered, Williams said: “There’s so many things. Like the fight. I’m such a fighter. I feel like I really brought something, and bring something, to tennis.

“The different looks, the fist pumps, the just-crazy intensity. Passion, I think, is a really good word. Just continuing through ups and downs. I could go on and on. But I just honestly am so grateful that I had this moment and that I’m Serena.”

Tributes to Williams’ ability and achievements were led by US Vice President Kamala Harris, who said: “Thank you, Serena Williams, for inspiring people around the world with your talent, grace, and determination both on and off the court.

“We celebrate all that you have been, all that you are, and all that is to come.”

Basketball star LeBron James said: “What you’ve done for the sport of tennis, what you’ve done for women and what you’ve done for the category of sport is unprecedented…win, lose or draw, it didn’t matter. We all knew that you were the greatest.”

And Bill Gates hailed her for challenging the “double standard between male and female players,” adding: “I look forward to watching her continue building her amazing legacy off the court.”

Williams, who was known for her powerful serve and athleticism, won her first grand slam title, the US Open, in 1999, two weeks before her 18th birthday, and had won 23 slams by the age of 35, beating her sister in the Australian Open final in 2017.

She has since reached and lost four grand slam finals, falling short of equalling Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 slam singles titles, but Williams’ tally is widely considered more impressive. She swept all four slams between the French Open in 2002 and the Australian Open in 2003, dubbing her achievement the “Serena slam”. She completed the Serena slam for a second time in 2014 and 2015.

Melbourne Park and Wimbledon would prove her most successful venues, winning seven titles at each followed by six at Flushing Meadows and three at Roland Garros.

Williams was praised by two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray after she announced in August that she would stop playing professional tennis.

The Scot said: “It’s a shame for the sport one of its greatest champions stops playing but it is inevitable that it’s going to happen at some stage to all of them.”

He added: “It just always feels like a bit of a shock when you see it because these are people, and Serena’s certainly one of them, that they don’t seem human sometimes and you think god they can just go on and on.”

Teenage British tennis star Emma Raducanu paid tribute after beating Williams 6-4, 6-0 in the first round at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati last month.

The 19-year-old said: “We all need to just honour Serena and her amazing career.

“I’m so grateful for the experience to have been able to play her and for our careers to have crossed over. Everything she has achieved is so inspirational and it was a true to honour to share the court with her.”