“I just felt like, ‘What could I have done better that day?” – Serena Williams on US Open loss to Tomljanovic

The American appeared on CBS Mornings where she said that she now wants to give her life to something other than tennis

Serena Williams (USA) plays her last match against Ajla Tomljanovic at the US Open 2022 Image Credit: Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

February 2, 2023

Anyone who knows Serena Williams and the competitor that she is, knows that the American tennis star hates losing. The 23-time Grand Slam champion was hoping for a fairytale ending to her career at the US Open last year, but those hopes were dashed by Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round after a closely fought three-set battle.

Five months later, Serena Williams says that she was not at all happy after the loss and looks back at it wondering what she could have done better.

“I was actually not very happy at all. Just because of the result. I was there to keep going and to keep winning,” Williams said in an interview to CBS Mornings. “And yeah, it was more or less like, ‘I can’t believe I let that match go’ more than anything, you know,” she said. “Obviously, it was a great moment and a great memory and I’ve never felt – I don’t feel like I’ve left anything, but I just felt like, ‘What could I have done better that day?’”

During the interview, Williams added that she has no plans to make a comeback for now and wants to devote her time to something other than tennis.

“I feel more pain just like looking at old pictures then I yeah, looking at all the pictures and championships or something like that,” she added. “I’m like, oh I miss that, but It’s hard to say, I would say no for now, no, because it’s just, I’ve literally given my whole life to tennis and it’s time for me to give my life to something else.”

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