Serena Williams: Martina Navratilova predicts retiring star’s US Open fate

The US Open is less than a week away and the countdown to Serena Williams’ retirement has started.

Following an emotional letter announcing her decision to “evolve away from tennis”, it seems likely that the final Grand Slam of the year will be the court legend’s swan song.

However, fellow tennis icon Martina Navratilova doesn’t believe a fairytale ending is on the cards for Williams.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion started to say her goodbyes to the sport at the National Bank Open earlier this month.

It was her first match since releasing her farewell announcement with Vogue and the star was left in tears following her second round defeat to Belinda Bencic.

An emotional Williams left the court to a standing ovation from the adoring Canadian crowd.

The 40-year-old then played at the Western and Southern Open, a tournament she has won twice in her career, where she lost to Emma Raducanu in the first round.

Her Cincinnati appearance was her penultimate build-up match ahead of the US Open, after which Williams will likely hang up her racquet.

Navratilova empathised with the former world number one and reflected on how difficult it was for her when she called time on her career.

“It’s hard. When I retired in ’93 I told the press it was my last year which was a mistake because every single tournament was a freaking tear-jerker,” she told Reuters.

“Serena did it her way, which was announcing in a very glamorous way on Vogue magazine, but then she is not accepting the losses, she is not accepting what comes with it which is saying goodbye.”

The 18-time Grand Slam champion then predicted more of fizzle than a bang when it comes to the end of Williams’ iconic career.

Navratilova admitted she doesn’t see “a Cinderella happy