On Friday night, the sports world said farewell to one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Serena Williams. In a loss to Australia’s Ajla Tomlijanovic, the 23-time Grand Slam champion played her final Grand Slam match in a tight three set match. With the loss, Williams ended her legendary career with a standing ovation from the crowd at Arthur Ashe stadium, located in New York City.

Williams will go down in history as one of the best to ever play the sport with an unreal list of achievements which include: 4 Olympic gold medals, 23 Grand Slams Singles Titles, 14 Grand Slam Doubles Titles, and 73 overall tour level titles. Those statistics alone are unrivaled in the tennis world among current players. The closest competitor being her older sister Venus Williams, who also has plenty of Grand Slams. 

As Williams headed into this year’s US Open, she knew that this tournament would be her last, as she announced during another tournament in Toronto a few weeks prior. Immediately following her announcement was an outpouring of love and support from the entire sports world. Many famous athletes across other sports shared what Williams meant to them, and how amazing she was for breaking so many barriers during her career. 

“You’re a G.O.A.T. What you have done for the sport, what you have done for tennis, what you have done for women is unprecedented. It’s been an honor to watch your journey and to watch you conquer everything you set out to do and break the records,” NBA superstar Lebron James said in a message to Williams. 

Playing through adversity has long been one of the marquee traits of Serena Williams, along with her aggressive playing style and fierce competitive spirit. Playing over the course of three different decades has perhaps spoiled the average tennis fan as careers usually do not tend to last as long as Williams’ did. 

With all her titles it can be difficult to figure out which one was the most impressive. Was it the 2015 French Open when she won the tournament after having major symptoms of the flu before every match? Was it the 2012 London Summer Olympics after she demolished every single competitor while not dropping more than 4 games a match? Or was it winning the 2017 Australian Open without dropping a set and ultimately winning her 23rd Grand Slam title defeating her sister Venus in the final?

Why would it be that one? Well, it would be discovered a few weeks later that Serena had won the Grand Slam while being eight weeks pregnant with a baby. Many believe that winning a Grand Slam is already the hardest thing to do in tennis but doing so pregnant? It is almost impossible to even dream of. Still Williams was able to conquer it. 

But it also wasn’t just the titles that she won that made her so important in the sports world. After nearly dying during childbirth she would go on to make four more Grand Slam finals, unfortunately losing them all in straight sets. Did her opponents play the best that they had ever played? Sure they did. Who wouldn’t, after all nearly everyone she played after coming back from giving birth played their best when they played her. 

People always brought out their best against Serena due to her stature bringing it out of them. Look at the world number two, whom Serena defeated in the second round, Anett Kontaviet had been struggling throughout the year but when she played Williams at the US Open, it was some of the best tennis she had ever played. It can simply be described as the Serena effect. 

While listing off Serena’s accomplishments could take forever, her undeniable love and talent for the sport of tennis will be remembered forever. But most importantly, the role model that she became and the groundbreaking athlete that she is for not only women in sports will leave the greatest legacy. Look at the doubles world number one player and top ten singles player Cori (Coco) Gauff, she even stated that she would not be where she is today if not for Serena and Venus. Serena inspired many and though no one has a clue what she will do next, we will always have the memories of what she did and her legacy will stand forever as one of the greatest of all time.