Superstar tennis player Serena Williams is preparing for her third-round singles match at the U.S. Open after a defeat in the doubles Thursday, marking what could be the final match in her career.
Williams, 40, with her sister Venus Williams, 42, were defeated in the first round of the doubles tournament by Czech duo Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in two sets, 7-6, 6-4, Thursday. The Williams sisters came close to victory several times in the match, including tying the score late in the first set, but it was not enough to beat the Czech pair.
SERENA WILLIAMS SAYS SHE’S ‘EVOLVING AWAY’ FROM TENNIS
One of the Czech players apologized to the U.S. fans in the New York City crowd after the match for beating the home country favorites.
“I’m so sorry for you that we beat them, but we are so happy that we did it,” Hradecka said.
The 23-time major champion will face Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in a singles match Friday after defeating the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Estonian Anett Kontaveit, in the second round Wednesday.
Williams announced she would be “evolving away” from tennis after the U.S. Open in a cover story for Vogue earlier this year. If Williams loses on Friday, it will likely be the end of a legendary career that has seen success in the doubles game and the singles game, with the superstar winning her first singles U.S. Open title in 1999 at age 17.
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Williams’s match against Tomljanovic is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday. The game will be televised on ESPN.
