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Serena Williams made a third-round exit at the U.S. Open after falling to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović in the third set. And the sports world was watching.
Entering the US Open, it was believed that it would be the final match of Williams’ illustrious career. Williams had previously said her retirement was coming soon.
So with the possibility of the GOAT taking the court for the final time, there was plenty of buzz and eyeballs on the match. So much so, in fact, that Williams’ match set a tennis viewership record.
According to ESPN, a record 4.8 million viewers tuned in for the match. The audience peaked at a whopping 6.9 million viewers. It is the most-watched tennis match in ESPN history.
The previous record of 3.9 million was for the 2012 Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
After the match, Williams spoke to the media and acknowledged this was likely her swan song, but did not completely rule out a return to the court.
“Just not sure if that was my last moment or not. Making it a different moment I think is much better. It takes a lot of work to get here. Clearly I’m still capable. It takes a lot more than that,” the 40-year-old Williams told the media.
Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles throughout her illustrious career and is one short of Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24. Her last Grand Slam victory came in 2017 when she defeated her sister Venus to win the Australian Open while pregnant with her daughter Olympia.
