Serena Williams, who on Tuesday announced his imminent retirement from sports competition, said goodbye to Toronto on Wednesday night with tears after being eliminated from the Canada Masters by the Swiss Belinda Bencic.
Williams, who will turn 41 at the end of September and has just returned to competition after more than a year’s hiatus, was defeated by Bencic in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
This was Serena’s defeat in Toronto
Bencic, number 12 in the world, only needed 77 minutes to eliminate the tennis player with the most Grand Slam titles in history, 23, and who has won the Canadian tournament three times in the past.
The Swiss player, who will now face Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza in the next round of the Canadian tournament, scored eight direct service points and won 84 per cent of her first serve.
With the serve as her main weapon, the Swiss controlled Williams without problems, who in the entire match had only one opportunity to break her opponent’s service, something she could not achieve.
For his part, Bencic broke Williams twice in the first set. In the second set, Williams settled more on the court and stood up to the Swiss until in the seventh game, Bencic broke the American’s serve again.
Serena said goodbye in the middle of tears
As soon as the game ended, Williams tearfully thanked the Canadian public for their support and said he would have liked to have played better.
Williams explained that she is not good for goodbyes, as she already pointed out in the letter published on Tuesday in Vogue announcing her retirement from tennis.
AWESOME OVATION! Serena Williams said goodbye to the Canadian Open in Toronto with all her honors. Close to her retirement, the former No. 1 lost to Bencic and thanked the public for their support.
Get ready to see how it will be received at the US Open!!📹 @WTApic.twitter.com/ZflaMgQNOg– Gustavo Goitía (@goitiatenis) August 11, 2022
“But, bye-bye Toronto,” said the tennis player, adding that she had always enjoyed the Canadian city “on and off the court.”
“I’ll be back as just a visitor. But otherwise it’s been amazing. I’ve had some really amazing games here and some really fantastic wins,” she added.
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