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Defeated steroid ape Serena Williams bolts Australian Open press conference in tears after retirement question
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hamilton
Oct 14, 2021, 4:40:02 PM10/14/21
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MELBOURNE, Australia — As Serena Williams walked off the court
after her latest so-close-yet-so-far bid for a 24th Grand Slam
title ended with a loss to Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open,
the 39-year-old American paused and put her hand on her chest as
thousands of spectators rose to applaud.
Was this, Williams was asked at a news conference after the 6-3,
6-4 semifinal defeat, her way of saying goodbye?
“If I ever say farewell,” she replied with a smile, “I wouldn’t
tell anyone.”
When the next question returned the conversation to the subject
of Williams’ many mistakes Thursday — twice as many unforced
errors, 24, as winners, 12 — she shook her head, teared up,
said, “I’m done,” and abruptly ended the session with reporters.
Once again, Williams played well enough to get to the closing
days of a major tournament. And once again, she couldn’t quite
get the job done in order to add one more Grand Slam trophy to
her collection of 23 and equal Margaret Court for the most in
tennis history.
Osaka, who also beat Williams in the chaotic 2018 U.S. Open
final, reached her fourth major title match and stretched her
winning streak to 20 matches by claiming the last eight points.
She will face American Jen Brady, who defeated Karolina Muchova
6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
“I don’t know if there’s any little kids out here today, but I
was a little kid watching her play,” Osaka, 23, said about
Williams, “and just to be on the court playing against her, for
me, is a dream.”
The No. 3-seeded Osaka’s Grand Slam collection also includes
last year’s U.S. Open and the 2019 Australian Open and she is,
without a doubt, the most dangerous hard-court player in the
women’s game at the moment. That used to be Williams, of course.
“I could have won. I could have been up 5-love,” said Williams,
who instead took a 2-0 lead at the outset before dropping the
next five games. “I just made so many errors.”
Her forehand, in particular, went awry, with no fewer than 10
unforced errors off that side in the first set alone.
“Too many mistakes there,” she said. “Easy mistakes.”
Williams’ frustration was made plain early in the second set,
when she leaned over and screamed, “Make a shot! Make a shot!”
After collecting her professional era-record 23rd Slam singles
trophy at Melbourne Park while pregnant in 2017, Williams
reached four major finals and lost them all.
She’s also now lost in the semifinals twice in that span.
So on Saturday, at 7:30 p.m. local time (3:30 a.m. Eastern),
Osaka will meet a first-time Grand Slam finalist for the
championship.
“Everyone’s just really excited whenever they play their first
final, but they’re also really nervous,” Osaka said, then added
with a laugh: “So I don’t want to wish nerves on someone, but
hopefully one of them gets nervous.”
Osaka got out to a shaky start, as Williams went up 2-0, then
held another break point with a chance to lead 3-0 after another
double-fault by Osaka.
“I was just really, like, nervous and scared, I think, at the
beginning,” said Osaka, who was born in Japan and moved to the
U.S. when she was 3. “And then I sort of eased my way into it.”
Didn’t take long to right herself.
Suddenly, it was Osaka powering in aces, putting groundstrokes
right where she wanted, covering the court so well. Osaka never
has tried to hide how much she admires Williams and models her
game after the American’s.
Both are predicated on the same basic elements of big serves and
quick-strike forehands, and not only did Osaka do both better on
this day, she even sounded just like her idol, screaming “Come
on!” after several key shots.
There was one last test for Osaka. A trio of double-faults in
one game — she wound up with eight for the match — allowed
Williams to break for 4-all.
But Osaka regained her composure immediately, breaking back at
love with the help of a pair of backhand winners and a double-
fault from Williams, then holding at love to end it.
https://nypost.com/2021/02/17/naomi-osaka-stops-serena-williams-
bid-for-record-tying-24th-grand-slam-title/
after her latest so-close-yet-so-far bid for a 24th Grand Slam
title ended with a loss to Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open,
the 39-year-old American paused and put her hand on her chest as
thousands of spectators rose to applaud.
Was this, Williams was asked at a news conference after the 6-3,
6-4 semifinal defeat, her way of saying goodbye?
“If I ever say farewell,” she replied with a smile, “I wouldn’t
tell anyone.”
When the next question returned the conversation to the subject
of Williams’ many mistakes Thursday — twice as many unforced
errors, 24, as winners, 12 — she shook her head, teared up,
said, “I’m done,” and abruptly ended the session with reporters.
Once again, Williams played well enough to get to the closing
days of a major tournament. And once again, she couldn’t quite
get the job done in order to add one more Grand Slam trophy to
her collection of 23 and equal Margaret Court for the most in
tennis history.
Osaka, who also beat Williams in the chaotic 2018 U.S. Open
final, reached her fourth major title match and stretched her
winning streak to 20 matches by claiming the last eight points.
She will face American Jen Brady, who defeated Karolina Muchova
6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
“I don’t know if there’s any little kids out here today, but I
was a little kid watching her play,” Osaka, 23, said about
Williams, “and just to be on the court playing against her, for
me, is a dream.”
The No. 3-seeded Osaka’s Grand Slam collection also includes
last year’s U.S. Open and the 2019 Australian Open and she is,
without a doubt, the most dangerous hard-court player in the
women’s game at the moment. That used to be Williams, of course.
“I could have won. I could have been up 5-love,” said Williams,
who instead took a 2-0 lead at the outset before dropping the
next five games. “I just made so many errors.”
Her forehand, in particular, went awry, with no fewer than 10
unforced errors off that side in the first set alone.
“Too many mistakes there,” she said. “Easy mistakes.”
Williams’ frustration was made plain early in the second set,
when she leaned over and screamed, “Make a shot! Make a shot!”
After collecting her professional era-record 23rd Slam singles
trophy at Melbourne Park while pregnant in 2017, Williams
reached four major finals and lost them all.
She’s also now lost in the semifinals twice in that span.
So on Saturday, at 7:30 p.m. local time (3:30 a.m. Eastern),
Osaka will meet a first-time Grand Slam finalist for the
championship.
“Everyone’s just really excited whenever they play their first
final, but they’re also really nervous,” Osaka said, then added
with a laugh: “So I don’t want to wish nerves on someone, but
hopefully one of them gets nervous.”
Osaka got out to a shaky start, as Williams went up 2-0, then
held another break point with a chance to lead 3-0 after another
double-fault by Osaka.
“I was just really, like, nervous and scared, I think, at the
beginning,” said Osaka, who was born in Japan and moved to the
U.S. when she was 3. “And then I sort of eased my way into it.”
Didn’t take long to right herself.
Suddenly, it was Osaka powering in aces, putting groundstrokes
right where she wanted, covering the court so well. Osaka never
has tried to hide how much she admires Williams and models her
game after the American’s.
Both are predicated on the same basic elements of big serves and
quick-strike forehands, and not only did Osaka do both better on
this day, she even sounded just like her idol, screaming “Come
on!” after several key shots.
There was one last test for Osaka. A trio of double-faults in
one game — she wound up with eight for the match — allowed
Williams to break for 4-all.
But Osaka regained her composure immediately, breaking back at
love with the help of a pair of backhand winners and a double-
fault from Williams, then holding at love to end it.
https://nypost.com/2021/02/17/naomi-osaka-stops-serena-williams-
bid-for-record-tying-24th-grand-slam-title/
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