Serena Williams And How Women’s Tennis Legends Have Left The Stage

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

After Serena Williams was defeated in the first round of Wimbledon by Harmony Tan, many speculated that it may have been her final career match. In her post-match press conference, Williams was coy, guarded and genuinely unsure on what the future will hold for her, stating that she was only focused on playing at Wimbledon for the moment.

“Like I said coming into this, I’m just planning for right now, seeing how I feel, just to go from there,” she said.”

How a legendary player exits the sport is a personal choice. Some choose to just fade away while other prefer to give advance notice of their final run or final tournament to give fans a chance to say good-bye and for them to properly say thank you.

In lieu of Serena and her current situation, let’s look back at how the three closest modern-day women’s tennis legends handled their exit from the competitive stage.

CHRIS EVERT

In January of 1989, a 34-year-old Chris Evert told a gaggle of South Florida newspaper writers that it was likely her last year of pro tennis. When the New York Times and Los Angeles Times picked up on the story, Evert immediately threw some water on that announcement from the WTA event in Tokyo.

“When it’s time for me to retire, I will announce it officially,” Evert said at a press conference before the start of the tournament. “I have never made an official (retirement) statement. I would like to leave the door open for next year.”

Later in the year at Wimbledon, Evert was still wishy-washy of her status. While many speculated that it would be her final Wimbledon, Evert did not go as far to say it and kept a crack open in the door. She and then husband Andy Mill discussed – and side-stepped – the subject in this interview with Dick Enberg of NBC Sports following her semifinal loss to Steffi Graf and two days removed from her comeback win in the quarterfinals over Laura Golarsa here

However, prior to the U.S. Open later in the summer, Evert finally stated that the U.S. Open would be her final event. “Even though I hate dealing with this — I don’t even like to think about it — my mind is made up. The 1989 U.S. Open will be my final tournament,” Evert said to Sports Illustrated.

The highlights of her final U.S. Open were highlighted in these two entries from the “On This Day In Tennis History” book as excerpted below.

September 3, 1989 – Thirty-year-old Chris Evert defeats 15-year-old Monica Seles 6-0, 6-2 for her 101st and last U.S. Open singles victory. Evert commits only 17 unforced errors – compared to 34 from Seles – to advance into the U.S. Open quarterfinals for a 19th time in 19 U.S. Opens. Says Evert of her near flawless performance, “I don’t know where it came from.” Writes Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post. “In many ways this was a match of remembrance. Evert had played it countless times before, against all the Tracy Austins and Andrea Jaegers she has outlasted over her 19-year era. Seles was a pogo stick of a girl with harmful, two-fisted strokes like those of a younger Evert.  Ranked No. 12 in the world, she defeated the slowing, tiring fourth-seeded Evert in straight sets in April’s Virginia Slims of Houston, and was widely expected to do so again today. Instead Evert accomplished her 101st Open victory, a record for men and women.”

September 5, 1989 – The storied U.S. Open career of Chris Evert comes to an end as the six-time champion is defeated by Zina Garrison 7-6, 6-2 in Evert’s final U.S. Open match in the women’s quarterfinals. Says Evert, “I’m not disappointed that it’s my last match at the Open, I’m disappointed isolating the match and thinking how I played it, and, well, that’s one of the reasons I’m retiring.” Evert, a six-time U.S. Open champion, makes her debut at the U.S. Open in 1971 as a 16-year amateur, reaching the semifinals en route to winning a record 101 of 113 tournament matches. Says Garrison, “When I went over and sat down, I thought about what had just happened, that this is the last time we’ll see Chris here. She’s been so much to the game. She’s such a lady. To be the villain to have to take her out of this tournament, it’s good for me, but it wasn’t good for me. It might not be the way I want people to remember me, but at least I will be remembered.” Writes Robin Finn in the New York Times of Evert’s emotional and dramatic final moments on a U.S. Open court, “Evert calmly packed up her racquets on the Stadium Court for the last time, gave a smile and a rotating wave of farewell to her fans and put a steadying arm around the shoulders of Garrison, who couldn’t suppress a few confused tears.”

While many recognize Evert’s loss to Zina Garrison in the U.S. Open quarterfinals and her famous wave to the crowd as she exited the court at the U.S. Open for a final time as her official “adieu” to pro tennis, Evert did in fact play one more event. A month later, Evert fulfilled her commitment to her country by representing the United States in the Federation Cup (now the Billie Jean King Cup), where she helped the United States to the championship, as excerpted from “On This Day In Tennis History.” Even then she could not really wrap herself around the thought of not playing tournament tennis again.

October 9, 1989 – Chris Evert plays her final match as a professional, defeating Conchita Martinez 6-3, 6-2 to help the United States to a 3-0 victory over Spain in the final of the Federation Cup in Tokyo, Japan. “’If this is it, I think I’m going out on the highest note possible,” Evert says. “I came here thinking this is my last tournament scheduled for this year, and maybe forever, and what better note could there be to end it on, playing on a great team for my country.” Says Evert’s teammate and legendary rival Martina Navratilova, “’I think all of us really wanted to win it for Chris, but she won it for herself, too,. She won all her matches so she played a huge part in it. It was great to be on the team with her.”

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA

Early in 1994, Martina Navratilova, at age 37, announced that it would be her final year on the WTA Tour, at least in singles play. She told the Chicago Tribune in advance of playing the Virginia Slims of Chicago that the full implications of retirement “haven’t quite hit me yet.” This was showcased when she was upset by 18-year-old Maggie Maleeva in the quarterfinals of the tournament (an event she had won a record 12 times) and she failed to participate in a post-match on-court ceremony in her honor in her final year of competitive singles play.

At the French Open, as the No. 4 seed, she lost in the first round for the first time in her career when she lost to Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4. Navratilova’s final swing of her racquet on the day came against her courtside chair, as the two-time Roland Garros champion shattered her racquet frame before walking off the court. Said Navratilova of her racquet smash “I’ve never done it before and I hope I never will again, but at that point, I was too disappointed to care about anything.”

Navratilova, however, recaptured her magic on her favorite grass at Wimbledon, where she reached the singles final, only the fall just shy of winning a 10^th singles title with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 loss to Conchita Martinez. Wrote John Roberts of The Independent “It was, the great champion assured us, the last shot she will make at the All England Club, certainly in singles matches, and it may transpire to be the last to be seen from her in any tournament.”

Following her emotional run to the Wimbledon final, where she famously plucked a few pieces of grass off of Centre Court as she walked off court, Navratilova told Robin Finn with the New York Times that she would surprisingly skip the U.S. Open, the Grand Slam of her adopted homeland.
“Citing a weariness of mind and body after an emotional six months of goodbyes on the tour, Navratilova said she preferred to skip the Open, never her most coveted stop, rather than submit to pressure from the establishment to compete in the year’s final Grand Slam event, which opens in 16 days,” wrote Finn.

“My 37-year-old body is telling me to play on indoor surfaces, and I think it’s time to listen,” Navratilova said to Finn.

In her second-to-last event at the Bank of the West Championships in Oakland (coincidentally where Venus Williams made her pro debut that same year), Navratilova, a fresh 38-year-old, lost the final to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) and said  “It’s nice to be able to play great tennis. I just wish I could finish it off. When I play tennis like this, I know I didn’t retire too late.”

Navratilova finished out the year and on November 14, as documented in the “On This Day In Tennis History” book, lost to Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the year-end Virginia Slims Championships. Navratilova has a banner retired at Madison Square Garden during the on-court post-match festivities. Said Navratilova, ”I got blown off the court tonight by someone who was playing in another zone. If I have to lose my last match to anyone, I’d want to lose it to Gabriela Sabatini because she’s a very, very nice human being besides being a hell of a tennis player.’

Six years later in 2000, however, Navratilova emerged from retirement to play full-time doubles on the WTA Tour. She won 12 more WTA doubles titles in her comeback and even made singles returns to the French Open and Wimbledon in 2004, ironically, losing to Gisela Dulko of Argentina both times, 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the French and 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of Wimbledon. She also had a chance to compete at the Olympics in doubles in 2004, losing the quarterfinals with Lisa Raymond. In mixed doubles, she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2003 with Leander Paes and finally bid adieu to tennis at the 2006 U.S. Open as she closed in our her 50^th birthday, going out in style with a U.S. Open mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan.

STEFFI GRAF

Steffi Graf was struggling with knee, back and wrist injuries in 1997 and 1998, missing big chunks of both seasons. Entering the 1999 French Open at age 29, Graf had not won a major title since the 1996 U.S. Open and was not considered a serious contender for the title as the No. 6 seed. However, she defeated No. 2 seed Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals, No. 3 seed Monica Seles in the semifinals before upsetting No. 1 Martina Hingis in the final in a match that gained a chapter in the Steve Flink book “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time.” Following the win, Graf created speculation of pending retirement when she said she would not play in Paris again.

At Wimbledon weeks later, Graf again made the final where she lost to Davenport and after the final said she would not play Wimbledon again. “Basically, I won’t be back as a player at Wimbledon,” she said. “I don’t think I need to clarify anything. I will not commit on anything other than that. Right now I’m a little sad about everything, but in a way, I feel pretty fine with it.”

Wrote Robin Finn of the New York Times, “The 1-hour-16-minute match was unforgettable too for the bombshell Graf dropped shortly after she left Center Court without waving goodbye. Just as she had done in Paris last month after winning the French Open — her 22d Grand Slam championship — Graf announced that she was retiring from this event. Reluctant to make her intentions public beforehand for fear of seeing her title quest undermined by sentiment, Graf waited until she and Davenport were off the court, and out of earshot of royalty, before disclosing that her 14th Wimbledon would be her last.”

On August 3, at the WTA event in Carlsbad, California, Graf was forced to retire with a left thigh injury trailing Amy Frazier 6-4, 5-7, 1-2, deuce, in her first round match and her first match since the Wimbledon final. That was when Graf knew she wanted to throw in the towel and fully commit to her retirement, which she officially announced on August 13, as documented in the “On This Day In Tennis History Book” below.

August 13, 1999 – Saying there was “nothing left to accomplish,” thirty-year-old Steffi Graf announces her retirement from professional tennis in a press conference in Heidelberg, Germany. “I’m not having fun anymore,” says Graf, whose 17-year career includes 22 major singles titles, 107 tournament titles and a record 377 weeks as the No. 1 player in the world. “The weeks following Wimbledon weren’t easy for me,” she says. “I was pulled back and forth, but when I made my decision, I didn’t think about it one minute afterward.”