A quarter-century ago, Serena Williams entered tennis, grandly and regally and without inhibition. Now, after years of rueful speculation, we have a sense of how it will all end. Sort of. Maybe. Barring the unlikely—a caveat one must always include with Serena—she will conclude her unrivaled career in New York at the 2022 U.S. Open.
For any athlete, knowing when to say when is an excruciating exercise. All the more so in an individual sport, where there is no contract to play out, no management to make the choice for you. And for individual athletes, who travel a circuit and have no home field or court, there is also the issue of where to say when. In this case, Serena, four weeks from turning 41, has chosen to take out her stringed instrument and play her final grace notes at a venue that encapsulates her operatic career.
In some ways, it couldn’t be more fitting. The U.S. Open is not only Serena’s home Grand Slam, but it also marked her opening salvo, the site of the first of the 23 majors she would win. She’s taken the New York title six times in all and, at a venue christened in Billie Jean King’s honor, has won more matches here (106 heading into this week) than at any other tournament.
