As she has always done over the past quarter century, Serena Williams gave it her all, right down to the last second of a match that lasted more than three hours. Even at 5-1 against her in the last set, she still believed in it. “I’ve done it before, coming back like this. I’m not one to give up.” We don’t get over it. Finally defeated by a magnificent Ajla Tomljanovic (7-5, 6-7, 6-1), she then burst into tears during an interview on the court which turned into a speech, in which she notably paid a strong and moving tribute to his family. A farewell speech? Yes. No. Maybe. Most likely. The immense American champion revealed several weeks ago that she is going to retire. But on the “where” and especially the “when”, she never announced anything definitive even if, for everyone, the US Open was obvious given the timing and its link with the Grand Slam. new-yorkais.US OpenGasquet facing her nemesis: the 5 most painful moments of a way of the cross2 MINUTES AGOShe fought like a lioness, until the end: the 5 match points saved by SerenaEven this Friday night on the Arthur-Ashe court, she stayed on this line. “Are you going to reconsider your decision to retire?” he was asked. Response of the person concerned: “I don’t think so, but you never know.” A few minutes later, in front of the press, she had fun maintaining a semblance of suspense. Come back ? “I don’t know. I don’t think about it. But I’ve always loved Australia,” she said with a smile, implying a possible participation in the Australian Open next January. . Yes, I still feel capable, but there are plenty of other things Besides her passion for her sport and her love of competition, what is perhaps holding Venus’ little sister back is the fact of having still felt competitive. “I have come a long way since Wimbledon last year,” she recalls. So leaving for a match as intense as the one against Tomljanovic is a more than worthy farewell, but it also leaves her with a point of regret: “Each week, I was playing better and better. If I had started again earlier, if I had played more matches, I would still be playing at a high level. But I only want to keep the positive. I don’t know if it was my last moment, but it was a different moment.” A game worthy of his legend: Williams left New York with arms in hand Serena Williams points to a permanent retirement after this US Open. What she says like what you can read between the lines. “Yes, I still feel capable, but there are plenty of other things.” The woman is ready to take over as champion full time. The mother, too: “I’m ready to be a mother, to explore another version of Serena. Technically, I’m still super young (she will be 41 on September 26). So I want to enjoy life as long as I can still walk.” She wants to devote more time to her five-year-old daughter Olympia, who we saw as a supporter in her box on the Arthur-Ashe this week. “I’m going to spend time with my daughter, confirms Serena. I’ve been with her almost every day of her life, apart from two or three days. But my career has been complicated for her to manage. So it will be good to spend time with her and doing things that we couldn’t do.””She’s the greatest player of all time”: Tomljanovic pays tribute to Serena I can’t imagine not staying involved in this sportA very short term, she dreams of rest and “karaoke. Saturday night, for sure, I do karaoke.” Then will come, very quickly, the time for projects. In tennis or elsewhere. In tennis AND elsewhere, in all likelihood. But she does not envisage the rest of her life without keeping, in one way or another, one foot, or even both, in its almost natural environment. “Tennis has held such a place in my life that I can’t imagine not staying involved in this sport, assures the champion with 23 major titles. I don’t know how yet. But it has given me so much, I have lived so many incredible moments thanks to tennis, that I don’t see my future without tennis. But how? I haven’t the faintest idea…”One thing is certain, Serena Williams is not sad, even though she cried a lot on Friday evening . “But it’s not tears of sadness, it’s…I don’t know. I don’t even know how to describe it,” she said. She embraces the rest with more appetite than fear: “My future is so bright.” She who has been so celebrated and honored in recent days, what would she like us to remember from Serena Williams? “There are so many things for which I can be remembered…, she says without false modesty. For example the fight. I am such a fighter. I think that I bring and that I have brought something to tennis. Those different looks, clenched fists, crazy intensity. The right word for it all is passion. Going through the good times and the bad times.” Then this sentence that comes back: “I could go on, go on…” But her new life awaits her. Iron defense, forehand fire and high volley: Serena’s top 5 points during this US OpenUS OpenBurel, the unexpected second windA HOURS AGO OpenNo friendship but “a lot of respect”: Medvedev-Kyrgios, “it’s going to be a fun battle”2 HOURS AGO