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Serena Williams burst into tears, without revealing whether her Australian Open semi-final loss to Naomi Osaka will be her last appearance at Melbourne Park.
Turning 40 in September, Williams’ latest quest to match Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles crowns ended in a crushing 6-3 6-4 loss to Osaka on Thursday.
With her hand on her heart, the American paid a moving tribute to the crowd before leaving the Rod Laver Arena, raising the possibility that her 21st Open campaign was her last.
Rob Precious / AP
Serena Williams fought back tears during her press conference after her semi-final exit.
“I don’t know. If I ever fired, I wouldn’t tell anyone,” Williams said.
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“So …: I don’t know. The Australian crowd is so amazing so it was nice to see.”
Matt King / Getty Images
Serena Williams was also excited when she left the court following her loss to Naomi Osaka.
Williams has been stranded at a distance from Court’s record since capturing her 23rd Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park four years ago with the victory over her older sister Venus while three months pregnant with daughter Olympia.
Since then, the 39-year-old has suffered four final Grand Slam defeats, two at Wimbledon and two at the US Open, and was devastated by her straight-set loss to Osaka.
“The difference today was the mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes,” Williams said.
“Honestly, it was opportunities where I could have won. I could have been above five. I just made so many mistakes.”
In fact, twenty-four, only 12 winners.
Rob Precious / AP
Serena Williams made an abrupt exit from her press conference.
When asked how she expected to juggle tennis with travel and motherhood during the ongoing pandemic, Williams was in no mood to reveal her plans.
“I feel like I haven’t really thought about it much,” he said.
“But I think spending the past year with the pandemic was definitely interesting. So I have a bit of experience under my belt with that, I guess.
“But yeah, those are things I haven’t really thought about.”
Then, bursting into tears, the seven-time Australian Open champion interrupted her post-match press conference.
“I don’t know,” Williams said. “I’ve finished.”
