‘I always did love Australia...’ – Serena Williams refuses to officially call it quits following US Open defeat

Serena Williams has dropped yet another hint that her illustrious professional tennis career may not be over following defeat in the US Open. The 23-time Grand Slam winner recently revealed that she plans to ‘evolve away’ from tennis and it was largely thought that her appearance at Flushing Meadows would be her last as a professional. Ad Indeed, the febrile build-up to each of her US Open matches felt like a farewell to one of the true sporting greats, and the 40-year-old was clearly emotional as she lost to Ajila Tomlijanovic in the third round.

US OpenOpinion: Serena transformed tennis and transcended all of sport5 HOURS AGO But addressing her future in the game in a post-match press conference, Williams refused to confirm whether she would continue playing or not. Instead, she hinted at playing the Australian Open, which is the next Grand Slam and will be played in January 2023. A reporter asked: “In the interview on the court you indicated there might be a little wiggle room.

Is that true? Is there any wiggle room? If there is, what would it take for you to come back?" Williams responded: “I don't know. I'm not thinking about that. I always did love Australia, though (smiling).

“But yeah, you know what, I've come a long way since last year at Wimbledon. Just not sure if that was my last moment or not. Making it a different moment I think is much better.

“Yeah, and it takes a lot of work to get here. Clearly I'm still capable. It takes a lot more than that.