Serena Williams, who on Tuesday said that she would soon call time on her storied tennis career, departed the WTA Toronto Masters for the last time on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Belinda Bencic.
The second-round defeat by Switzerland’s reigning Olympic gold medalist was hardly unexpected, with the 40-year-old Williams competing in only her third match of the year.
Bencic fired eight aces and broke Williams twice in the first set and once in the second, advancing on her first match point after 78 minutes.
However, as Bencic herself said in a post-match interview on court: “Tonight is about her.”
Williams’ farewell on-court interview was threaded with emotion.
“I love playing here, I’ve always loved playing here,” she said, choking up as fans who cheered her throughout the match called out their appreciation. “I wish I could have played better tonight, but Belinda was playing so well.”
Williams, who turns 41 next month, said on Tuesday in an essay in Vogue magazine and an Instagram post that “the countdown has begun” to her retirement from the sport.
Williams did not specify an actual retirement date, but is expected to compete next week in Cincinnati before travelling to the US Open, which starts on Aug. 29.
“It’s been a pretty interesting 24 hours,” said Williams, who remains one shy of the all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles won by Margaret Court.
“Like I said in my article, I’m terrible at goodbyes,” she said, her voice breaking. “But, goodbye,” she said, then adding with a laugh “Toronto.”
“I’ve always had an amazing time here on and off the court,” Williams said. “I’ve had some really good matches and some really cool wins. It’s been a joy playing here all of those years.”
Her appearance highlighted a day that saw US teenager Coco Gauff — who says Williams was “the reason why I play tennis” — overcome 13 double faults to battle past Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and into the third round.
Gauff eliminated Rybakina with a 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (7/3) win, while world No. 1 Iga Swiatek sailed past Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 6-2 in 55 minutes.
Defending champion Camila Giorgi made it to the third round with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Belgian Elise Mertens.
Spanish fourth seed Paula Badosa lasted just 13 games before retiring as she trailed 7-5, 1-0 against Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.
Simona Halep beat Zhang Shuai of China 6-4, 6-2.
Other winners were: Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, Bianca Andreescu of Canada, Zheng Qinwen of China, Jessica Pegula and Alison Riske of the US, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Jil Teichmann of Switzerland.
In the women’s doubles, Chinese pair Xu Yifan and Zhaoxuan Yang beat Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Shuko Aoyama of Japan 6-2, 2-6, 10-7.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was