NEW YORK -- Serena Williams lost what is expected to be the last match of her transcendent tennis career Friday night, eliminated from the US Open in the third round by Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1 before an electric crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Unwilling to go quietly, Williams staved off five match points to prolong the three-hours-plus proceedings, as some spectators stood to watch, camera phones at the ready.
No one -- save, of course, Tomljanovic -- wanted this to end. It did on Tomljanovic's sixth chance, when Williams netted a shot.