On Tuesday, 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams announced that she plans to retire from the sport. In her first match since making those intentions known, Williams lost 6-2, 6-4 to Belinda Bencic in the second round of the National Bank Open.
“It’s been a pretty interesting 24 hours,” Williams said after Wednesday’s match. “I’m terrible at goodbyes. But goodbye, Toronto.”
This was just Williams’ third tournament over the past year, as he’s been hampered by a leg injury.
Bencic, who is ranked 12th in the world, was coming off winning a gold medal for Switzerland at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The 25-year-old growing star certainly is no stranger to the big stage; she reached the US Open semifinals back in 2019.
While Williams did announce that she would be retiring, she hasn’t indicated exactly when her final match will take place. Williams does plan to compete at the US Open, which begins on Aug. 29 in New York. The US Open is a Grand Slam that Williams has won on six occasions, most recently in 2014.
“It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine,” Williams told Vogue while laying out her retirement plans. “I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next.”
Williams plans to compete in the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, which is expected to be a tuneup for the US Open.
The 40-year-old tennis star has the second-most Grand Slam titles (23) to Margaret Court (24). Williams has been attempting to tie Court’s mark since winning the 2017 Australian Open.
