Serena Williams hints at retirement U-turn with Australian Open remark

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Serena Williams has hinted that she could make a U-turn on her decision to retire as early as January after playing the final match of her career at the US Open. The 23-time Grand Slam champion lost to Ajla Toljanovic in the third round on Friday to mark the end of her career, but has had her say on the chances of being tempted back to play the Australian Open.

Williams announced her decision to “evolve away from tennis” weeks before the US Open, and took her final bow on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night as she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5 6-7(4) 6-1 in a competitive battle worthy of being her last match. But moments after stepping off court, the former world No 1 was already teasing the possibility of a comeback.

Asked whether she would consider playing another tournament during her post-match press conference, the 40-year-old smiled. “I don’t know. I’m not thinking about that. I always did love Australia, though.” Williams had already been vague about her final tournament earlier in the week, but admitted that she didn’t know whether she would want to put in the time to keep training despite being “capable”.

“It takes a lot of work to get here,” she said of her level. “Obviously I’m still capable but it takes a lot more than that. I’m ready to be a mum, explore a different version of Serena.” And her comments came after she refused to rule out whether her loss to Tomljanovic was definitely her final match during her on-court interview.

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Asked by interviewer Mary Jo Fernandez if there was any chance she might reconsider her retirement. Williams replied: “I mean, I’m literally playing my way into this and getting better. I should have started sooner this year! I don’t think so, but you never know. I don’t know.”

The four-time Olympic champion was honoured with a farewell ceremony involving the likes of Billie Jean King after she won her opening match against Danka Kovinic, but even then remained tight-lipped about whether it was truly the end.

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“Yeah, I’ve been pretty vague about it, right?” she said in a press conference later that evening, speaking about the end of her career. “I’m going to stay vague, because you never know.”

While it remains to be seen whether Williams will make a U-turn and appear in Melbourne as a wildcard next year, she already has plans set in stone for the first day of her retirement. “I think I’m definitely probably going to be karaoke-ing tomorrow,” she said after losing to Tomljanovic.

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