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TORONTO, WEDNESDAY — Defeat against Belinda Bencic in the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto marked Serena Williams’ farewell to Canada. Accompanied by the applause, respect and love of the audience, Serena performed for the last time since her debut in Canada 22 years ago.

“It’s so hard for me to say goodbye, but ‘Goodbye, Toronto,'” Serena said, her voice choked and tearful.

He bid farewell after losing 2-6, 4-6 to Bencic in the match which took place on Wednesday (8/10/2022) evening local time or Thursday morning WIB in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The moment came a day after Vogue online published an article about Serena, who plans to retire in the near future. In the September 2022 issue, a photo of Serena with her daughter, Olympia, graces the cover of the magazine.

Serena has not said when she will retire. However, it is estimated that he will cease to be a professional tennis player, which he has been doing since October 1995, after participating in the United States Open Grand Slam in Flushing Meadwos, New York, from August 29 to September 11. The WTA 1000 Toronto, August 8-14, and WTA 1000 Cincinnati next week are part of Serena’s preparations for her appearance in New York.

The moment after Bencic’s match against Serena was also a moment that the tournament committee created for Serena. In a question from the host, Bencic said she felt happy and honored to be able to face Serena on multiple occasions. “Against Serena, it’s always a special moment. “I never imagined I would be able to face him several times,” said the Swiss tennis player, gold medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The meeting in Toronto was the fourth between the two, with Serena having a 2-1 advantage in the previous meeting. Seven years ago, Bencic beat top-seeded Serena in the semi-finals. The next encounter took place in the first round of the 2017 Australian Open Grand Slam, which Serena won. They finally met again five years later in Serena’s final moments in the tournament.

After Bencic left the court, Serena spoke to the Canadian tennis crowd for the last time. Even though Serena often misses one of the US Open warm-up tournaments, Serena has won three times in 10 appearances. Since his debut in 2000, he has only been eliminated in the first rounds twice, namely this year and when he lost in the third round in 2005. The rest, at least, he reached the semi-finals.

It was very difficult for me to say goodbye, but “Goodbye, Toronto”.

Many spectators at the stadium also brought posters depicting their love for Serena, such as “Toronto Love Serena”, “Canada Love Serena”, “We Love You Serena” and “Serena, the Greatest Athlete of All Time”.

In the interview, which was also attended by Serena’s husband and children Alexis Ohanian and Olympia in the stands, Serena said she really hoped to play well. “But today Belinda played better,” he says, laughing from time to time.

Whenever she is interviewed, Serena is known for always responding in a soft tone even though she is playing hard on the court. Against Belinda, she again showed her ability to hit hard despite her 41 years on September 26. But age doesn’t lie. He could no longer run fast when Bencic headed the ball at a wide angle.

Bencic does a lot of that on serve. Although her serve is not as hard as Serena’s, she can direct the ball towards the corner of the court until it bounces out of the court. Even if Serena could return it, Bencic would easily get points by hitting the ball into an empty court.

Also read: Serena Williams, the breaker of conventions

“There are a lot of emotions inside me today. I’m not one to handle goodbyes well, but “Goodbye, Toronto,” he said.

After that, Serena couldn’t stop crying. On several occasions, he wiped away tears when he received souvenirs in the form of t-shirts, opening bouquets and photos of himself from the committee. Many spectators couldn’t help but cry when Serena left the court.

Serena’s heartfelt statement about her intention to quit tennis received many comments, especially on social media. “When Serena leaves tennis, she will leave the sport a legend. He inspires other tennis players and fans. “He will be known as the champion who raised the profile of tennis globally,” said former world number one Billie Jean King.

Another former tennis player, John McEnroe, compared Serena to other sports legends, namely Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Tom Brady. “Serena is a great athlete. He’s an icon,” McEnroe told USA Today.

Also read: Serena Williams’ countdown to a new life

Teenage tennis player Cori “Coco Gauff” believes that Serena’s achievements as a tennis player will not be matched by those of other female tennis players. “What was done is an inspiration for many generations,” said Coco, who idolizes Serena and Venus Williams.

Top seeds eliminated

In the other second round which took place throughout Wednesday, the world number one in women’s singles, Iga Swiatek, did not encounter many difficulties against Ajla Tomljanovic. She won 6-1, 6-2 against Beatriz Hadad Maia in the third round. Maia beat US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez. Second seeds Anett Kontaveit, Paula Badosa (4) and Jelena Ostapenko (16) also lost.

As for the men’s ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal, a surprise also occurred when the top two seeds were eliminated in the second round. Daniil Medvedev (1) was eliminated by Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (2), 4-6, 2-6, while Carlos Alcaraz (2) lost to Tommy Paul 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7 ), 3-6. Meanwhile, fifth seed Andrey Rublev lost to Daniel Evans 4-6, 4-6. (AP/AFP/Reuters)