Serena Williams' last US Open has come to an end in the third round, going down 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 against Ajla Tomlanovic on Friday night.
It was a rough start for Williams, getting her serve broken in the first game of the match, but she got it straight back with a break-to-love by utilising her stunning power.
While her power brought her some easy points, it was also her undoing at times, with 16 unforced errors in the first set compared to 10 winners.
After securing another break to go up 5-3, serving for the opening set, Williams could not finish it off, losing the next four games in a row as Tomljanovic found a way to extend points and turn them into grinding rallies.
Not disheartened, Williams came out on fire in the second set, ripping off the first four games, but Tomljanovic again fought back. From 5-2 down, the Australian surged to level things at 5-5 before forcing a tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker, Williams worked her way to a 5-4 lead, and took two consecutive mini-breaks to send the crowd into raptures and the match to a deciding set.
But where world number two Anett Kontaveit folded in Williams' last match, Tomljanovic did not, responding instantly after having her serve broken in the opening game to take the next five in a row, with a chance to serve things out at 5-1.
The crowd tried to will the living legend back into the contest, saving the first five of Tomljanovic's match points as she refused to go down easily, but she was not able to convert either of her three break point opportunities in a final game that lasted nearly 15 minutes, ultimately going down on the sixth match point.
After a collective groan in the sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium, the crowd rose to their feet to pay their respect to the greatest women's tennis player of all time in her final outing at the US Open, as she treated the crowd to one more of her famous twirls at the grand slam she has won six times.
Data Slam: Six-time champion Serena leaves behind records that will stand the test of time
Williams finishes her US Open career with the seven more main draw wins than any other player, male or female. Her 108 wins leads Chris Evert (101), Jimmy Connors (98), Martina Navrilova (89) and Roger Federer (89).
She is also one of five players – along with Navrilova, Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – to spend at least 300 weeks as the world number one, and her 23 career grand slam titles is the most of any player, leading Steffi Graf (22) and Nadal (22).
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Williams – 49/51
Tomljanovic – 32/30
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Williams – 11/7
Tomljanovic – 3/9
BREAK POINTS WON
Williams – 5/13
Tomljanovic – 8/13
WTA Finals: Sabalenka digs deep to reach semi-finals
Aryna Sabalenka became the first player to book her place in the WTA Finals semi-finals after her straight-sets win over Jasmine Paolini on Monday.
The Belarusian had to dig deep in the second set but prevailed in 91 minutes, beating the Italian 6-3 7-5 in Riyadh to secure top spot in the Purple Group after two games.
While Sabalenka cruised through the first set, she was almost forced to a decider, but saved two set points in the 10th game of the second to level the score at 5-5 before going on to claim the victory.
In doing so, she became the first player to reach back-to-back semi-finals at the tournament as world number one since Serena Williams in 2013-14.
Having won three of her previous four tournaments and won 22 of her 23 matches in that time, Sabalenka is now just one win away from securing the year-end world number one spot for the first time, a feat she can achieve if she beats Elena Rybakina on Wednesday in the final round-robin match.
And she can go into it with confidence after improving her record against top-five opponents in 2024, with this her fifth such triumph.
"I'm proud of myself. Not only myself, my team," Sabalenka said.
"We were able to overcome a lot of things. To be able to show such great tennis and become World No. 1. It's teamwork. It's not only me. The behind-the-scenes work nobody sees.
"But they do a lot for me. I really appreciate them for everything they do for me. This is motivation for me to keep winning on this court. Those guys deserve to be called the best team ever."
In Monday's other match, Zheng Qinwen kept her hopes of reaching the final four alive with her win over Rybakina.
The Olympic champion was forced to go the distance though, despite getting the first break in the first and second sets, but eventually came out on top 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-1 in just under two-and-a-half hours.
Since the event's inauguration in 1972, Zheng is just the second Chinese player to win a match at the WTA Finals after Li Na.
It was a milestone victory for the 22-year-old as well as she earned her 50th win of 2024, improving her record to 50-17, making her the first Chinese player in the Open Era to hit that mark in a calendar year, though she acknowledged she could have made things easier for herself.
"I was the one to make the first break, and then I let her back in the first," Zheng said.
"Then it happened again in the second. But in the third set, I talked to myself. I broke her first and I stayed focused.
"Finally, in the third set, I start to play my tennis again. So, I'm really happy to win the match."
WTA Finals: Swiatek battles from the brink to make winning start
Iga Swiatek began her bid to regain the world number one ranking by recovering from a set and double break down to beat Barbora Krejcikova in her first match at the WTA Finals.
Swiatek, playing in her first competitive game since her US Open quarter-final exit, emerged a 4-6 7-5 6-2 victor against the Wimbledon champion in Riyadh.
The Pole is the third player in the last 30 years to achieve three or more seasons in a row with over 60 wins, after Martina Hingis (1997-2001) and Caroline Wozniacki (2009-2011).
Only Elina Svitolina (12) has played fewer matches at the WTA Finals than Swiatek (13) to achieve 10 wins at this event since the reintroduction of the Round Robin format in 2003.
But the Pole acknowledged the difficulties she faced against Krejcikova, saying she must improve if she is to retain her WTA Finals crown.
“Even though I played a lot of those [practice] matches,” Swiatek said afterward. “I kind of forgot for a while how it is to feel all those things, a bit different stress and emotions.
"For sure, I needed some time to adapt. The most important thing was that even though it happened, I managed to fight through that. And was patient enough to wait to get better.”
In Sunday's other match, Coco Gauff beat fellow American and doubles partner Jessica Pegula 6-3 6-2 in the second Orange Group match.
Gauff moved to a win-loss record of 51-16 in 2024, including the Olympics and team events, equalling her career-high from 2023 for WTA-level match wins in a calendar year.
She is now only the fifth player to claim 20 or more WTA top 10 wins before turning 21, along with Kim Clijsters (45), Maria Sharapova (39), Ana Ivanovic (26) and Wozniacki (23) since 2000.
"I think maybe I served better than previous times and this is our first time, I think, playing each other on indoor hard, so maybe that had something to do with it," Gauff said.
"I don't know. I think I know I've lost to her a lot, but it doesn't feel like it sometimes.
"Because we do practice a lot, and obviously, when we're playing sometimes I win practice sets, sometimes she does. So it doesn't feel like the head to head is as bad as it was."
Zverev soars past Humbert to claim Paris Masters crown
Alexander Zverev soared to the Paris Masters title following a commanding 6-2 6-2 victory over home favourite Ugo Humbert in the final.
The German took just 75 minutes to seal his seventh career ATP Masters triumph, and second silverware of the season.
Humbert received a raucous reception as he aimed to become the first Frenchman to win this event since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008.
However, the crowd were silenced when Zverev broke in the third and fifth games on his way to taking the opening set.
The Italian Open champion also dominated the second set, dropping just five points on serve as he wrapped up a comfortable victory.
"I knew I had to play like this to win today," Zverev said. "Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris, he plays even better than he usually does, and I knew that.
"Once the crowd gets involved, it's going to be difficult. So, I had to take that away early, and I did, so I'm happy about that."
Zverev was also delighted to triumph in Paris, and demonstrate the strides he has made since suffering a horrifying ankle injury during his 2022 French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal.
"It was not 100% guaranteed that I would be back at this level," he added. "So, to win this title here in Paris means the world to me, and I'm sure it means everything to those in my box, because they have done so much for me."
Data Debrief: Zverev surpasses Medvedev and matches Sinner
Runner-up to Daniil Medvedev in 2020, Zverev went one better at the Accor Arena four years later, and will be seeded second at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.
The second German to win this event after Boris Becker, he surpassed Medvedev (six) with his seventh ATP Masters crown the outright most of any player born since the format's inception in 1990.
Zverev also matched world number one Jannik Sinner for the joint-most match wins in ATP Masters events this season with 28.
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