NEW YORK: Serena Williams' retirement from tennis struck a range of cords in the tennis world. Her conqueror in her last outing Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic said it was the most conflicted she has felt after a victory, Jessica Pegula, called the moment 'sad'. 'Happy sad, but sad' all the same. Frances Tiafoe, who shared a mixed doubles court with Serena, and many a laugh, applauded the 23-time major winner's sharp sense of humour.
JESSICA PEGULA
It's sad because like she said. She's playing well. I got a little sentimental watching her. Usually you don't see her get that emotional, everyone just looked happy, but they were still crying. I just can't believe the era of Serena on the tennis court is over. It's hard to picture tennis without her. All the achievements she had, she's paved the way for a lot of women, women of colour, coming from Compton, there are just so many boxes she checks off. It's crazy, it's just sad. Happy sad, but it's sad.
FRANCES TIAFOE
We were playing Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic in the mixed doubles in Perth (Hopman Cup), Serena gets aced by Roger twice. She's like, I don't know how this guy is acing me. She goes, 'don't worry, we're not going to lose. Even if we do lose, I got 23, he got 20, so it's all good!' I'm like, man, this is too much. This is how she is in general. That line always stood out to me.
PETRA KVITOVA
I saw those match points when she didn't give up. It was very special. She didn't want to leave the court. What Serena showed (in her last match), especially when facing match point, was very nice. It was nice to see her fighting until the end.
AJLA TOMLJNOVIC
That's the most conflicted I ever felt after a win. During the match I was so eager to win. But then when it ended, it almost didn't feel right.
