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Atearful Serena Williams confessed to being ‘terrible at goodbyes’ as the National Bank Open triple champion said ‘goodbye Toronto’ in front of a packed crowd just 24 hours after announcing her imminent retirement.
The American lost 6-2 6-4 to Belinda Bencic in the second round in Toronto in her first defeat since saying she has decided to end her career.
‘It was a lot of emotions obviously,’ Williams told the crowd on Wednesday. ‘I love playing here, I’ve always loved playing here. I wish I could have played better but Belinda played so well today. It’s been an interesting 24 hours.
‘As I said in the article, I’m terrible at goodbyes. But, goodbye Toronto.’
The 23-time grand-slam champion wrote for Vogue that she was ‘evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me’.
‘Anyways, this is what it is,’ she told the crowd in Toronto as she wiped away a tear.
‘I was really happy to be out here today and play in front of you guys, thanks for the support,’ she said, gesturing toward the fans behind her, who roared back.
‘Thank you,’ she said with a grin as the presentation ended with a gift to her from the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL and the Toronto Raptors NBA franchises.
Elsewhere, Jack Draper defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas to claim his first victory over a top 10 player as he became the third Briton to qualify for the third round of the National Bank Open.
Draper had to fight back from down a break in the second before he managed to wrap up the match 7-5 6-4 (4) just before 1am in Montreal.
British No.2 Dan Evans, meanwhile, shocked eighth-ranked Andrey Rublev to qualify for the tournament’s last 16 for the first time.
Cameron Norrie will take on hometown hero Felix Auger-Aliassime for the second time in a week after the British No.1 defeated Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets.
Serena Williams makes tearful exit in Toronto after retirement confirmation (msn.com)