Serena Williams thanks fans after being defeated. Unbound from the pressure of her usual status as the favourite, Williams was allowed to savour her final go-round in the unfamiliar role of a betting long-shot. Maybe it’s because the final, fleeting chapter of Williams’ tennis life – as the US Open effectively became the Serena Williams Invitational over the course of five days that boasted record attendances and US television ratings – has been so fulfilling. She will continue to define success on her own terms as she has for nearly three decades in the unsparing public eye as a working-class black woman from Compton who rewrote the record books of a sport predominantly owned, played and watched by affluent white people. With a marriage to a supportive partner who shares her values, a daughter who just turned five and a venture capital firm that has raised more than $100m, there will be no crisis over her sense of purpose. Williams knows this shouldn’t be so hard for her. But these extended farewells almost always end in a messy defeat: as a last act, Friday night’s epic in front of a roaring crowd on Arthur Ashe was about as good as it gets. There was even a hint from Williams that she could return for the Australian Open. Letting go is the hardest part and understandably so when you’ve been the best in the world at what you do. Tom Brady is only the latest example of a great champion finding it hard to close the book on the glory days. This particular type of equivocation hardly makes Williams unique among elite athletes – or, more narrowly, the elite of the elite.
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