Serena Williams could have deliberate retirement her manner however the American should be ready to just accept the goodbyes in addition to the losses and exit the stage with grace, tennis nice Martina Navratilova has advised Reuters.
Williams signalled her intention to retire in a Vogue article in early August saying she was "evolving away from tennis" however by no means confirming the U.S. Open as her remaining occasion.
Nonetheless, for Navratilova, like a lot of the tennis world, the message was clear -- Flushing Meadows, the place Williams gained the primary of her 23 Grand Slam titles in 1999, would be the place she takes her remaining bow.
Navratilova stated she fully understood the feelings Williams was wrestling with as she approaches her remaining match having skilled lots of them herself.
However having made her choice, Williams should be ready to dwell with it and say goodbye even within the face of defeat.
"It is laborious," stated Navratilova, who's working with Sense Enviornment on a digital actuality tennis coaching product that gives gamers with enhanced visualisation.
"Once I retired in '93 I advised the press it was my final yr which was a mistake as a result of each single event was a freaking tear-jerker."
Williams' quick farewell tour, which has included two stops - in Toronto and Cincinnati - has been extra bitter than candy.
The 40-year-old Williams additionally stated within the Vogue article that she didn't just like the phrase "retirement" and has been clearly annoyed by the lack to dictate the phrases of her exit.
"Serena did it her manner, which was saying in a really glamorous manner on Vogue journal, however then she is just not accepting the losses, she is just not accepting what comes with it which is saying goodbye," added Navratilova.
ONE VICTORY
Crushed within the final 16 at Roland Garros in June 2021, Williams has performed sporadically and that has been mirrored in her outcomes, profitable just one match since.
On the Cincinnati Open final week, her remaining tune-up forward of the U.S. Open which begins Aug. 29, Williams was humbled 6-4 6-0 by U.S. Open champion Raducanu and marched off the courtroom stone-faced, barely acknowledging an adoring crowd.
Navratilova believes Williams ought to brace herself for extra disappointment as a result of the U.S. Open is unlikely to offer the fairytale ending she would love for her profession.
If Hollywood have been writing the script Williams would stroll off into retirement in triumph by profitable an elusive twenty fourth Slam that might pull her degree with Australian Margaret Courtroom on the prime of the all-time listing.
Whereas the U.S. Open can produce an excellent Cinderella story like final yr when Raducanu, an 18-year-old qualifier ranked 150 on the earth, hoisted the trophy however Navratilova doesn't see Williams turning again the clock and conjuring comparable magic.
"Feelings can solely carry you to this point, I do not see a Cinderella comfortable ending the place she wins the event," stated Navratilova. "The way in which she has seemed it does not appear like she goes to make a miraculous comeback and win the event.
"And with the stress of realizing that is seemingly your final event it does not assist.
