Serena Williams has just one tournament left before retirement after she was outclassed by Emma Raducanu in their first round match at the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday (AEST).
Last week the 23-time grand slam champion announced she will hang up her racquet following the US Open, which begins later this month.
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But the Serena farewell tour has been anything but a fairytale. She was beaten in straight sets by Belinda Bencic at the Canadian Open last week and teared up in an emotional on-court interview afterwards.
And it didn’t get any easier for Williams in Cincinnati as Raducanu rose to the occasion and rediscovered the form that saw her win the US Open last year.
The 19-year-old dominated the match from the start, breaking Williams’ serve in the opening game.
Williams looked rusty and didn’t give help herself as double faults and unforced errors opened the door for Raducanu.
She made a mini comeback from 4-1 down in the first set but from then it was all Raducanu, who bagelled Williams in the second set to claim a convincing 6-4 6-0 victory in just 65 minutes.
The Brit finished with 14 winners and just one unforced error for the match.
“Thank you, great match, thank you,” Williams told Raducanu as they shook hands at the net.
But there was no repeat of the emotional scenes in Toronto as Williams brushed off requests for an on-court interview and quickly made her way down the tunnel.
Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg tweeted: “Emma Raducanu gets a confidence building win ahead of her US Open title defence, soundly beating Serena Williams 6-4, 6-0 in R1 of #CincyTennis.
“Serena 0-2 since announcing her retirement. Emcee tried to stop her for an on-court interview for the crowd, but Serena blew past.”
Journalist Gaspar Ribeiro Lança described Raducanu’s performance as “pretty flawless,” adding: “It looks like there will be no on-court interview with Serena Williams in her goodbye to Cincinnati…”
The centre court crowd in Cincinnati did their best do cheer Williams on, with her daughter Olympia and four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka in the crowd.
It was a slightly anticlimactic result for the 40-year-old’s penultimate tournament and did little to suggest she can make a deep run at the US Open.
“I was nervous from the first point to the last,” Raducanu said. “Serena is dangerous and can come back from any situation.
“I had to stay focused. I’m so pleased I managed to keep my composure.”
“I think we all need to just honour Serena and her amazing career,” Raducanu added.
“I’m so grateful for the experience of being able to play her and for our careers to have crossed over and everything that she has achieved is so inspirational. It was a true honour to share the court with her.”
Raducanu will next face Victoria Azarenka in the second round.