A third-round exit at the hands of Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the 2022 US Open brought to an end one of the most illustrious tennis careers of all time.
Serena Williams has played her last ever professional match, calling time on a 27-year career which featured an eye-watering 23 Grand Slam titles.
Here is a look at some of her greatest wins in that spell.
US Open final vs Martina Hingis, 1999
Where better to start in a list of Williams’ greatest wins than with her first Grand Slam triumph.
Earlier in 1999, 18-year-old Williams had laid down a marker with victory over the legendary Steffi Graf in the final of the Evert Cup at Indian Wells.
And when the US Open rolled around, Williams showed no signs of slowing down with victories over compatriots Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.
That set up a final with world number one Martina Hingis, who Williams defeated to claim her first major title and kick-start a glittering career.
Wimbledon final vs Venus Williams, 2002
Wimbledon 2002 was an iconic tournament for the Williams sisters, who clashed in the final at the All England Club.
At that stage, Venus was two-time defending champion but Serena showed her class to battle to a 7-6 6-3 victory, arguably marking the moment she started to overtake her sister in the tennis world.
The win at Wimbledon saw Serena go top of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career and she went on to stay there for 319 weeks.
Australian Open final vs Venus Williams, 2003
That Wimbledon triumph was sandwiched between wins at the French Open and US Open for Serena Williams in 2002.
The American had become the dominant force in women’s tennis and she started the following season with one of her greatest ever wins at the Australian Open, again ousting sister Venus 7-6 3-6 6-4.
That victory meant Williams became only the fifth woman in history to be defending champion of all four Grand Slams at once and completed what became known as the “Serena Slam”.
Australian Open final vs Justine Henin, 2010
A prime example of Williams performing under immense pressure came in the final of the 2010 Australian Open.
Belgian talent Henin and Williams were the greatest of rivals in the early 2000s and it seemed they would never meet in a Grand Slam final when Henin retired in 2008.
However, in 2009 she came out of retirement and was given a wildcard entry at the 2010 Australian Open, defying expectations to make the final, in which she would face Williams.
Most of the Rod Laver Arena were behind Henin but Williams held her nerve to pull off a 6-4 3-6 6-2 win and go level on 12 Grand Slam titles with the legendary Billie Jean King.
Australian Open final vs Venus Williams, 2017
Williams’ final Grand Slam triumph – number 23 – came in the final of the 2017 Australian Open in familiar circumstances against sister Venus.
She went the entire tournament without dropping a set in Melbourne and prevailed 6-4 6-4 in the final to surpass Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major titles.
Remarkably, Williams achieved the feat against her sister while two months pregnant with daughter Olympia.
It was once again a fine demonstration of the American’s mental resilience and unparalleled physical prowess.
