Cologne (SID) – Serena Williams is facing a high opening hurdle on her farewell tour at the WTA tournament in Cincinnati. The 23-time Grand Slam winner from the USA has to deal with US Open winner Emma Raducanu in the first round in a duel of generations at the beginning of the week.
For 40-year-old Williams it is the first duel with the 19-year-old Brit, who celebrated an incredible triumph in New York last year. Raducanu was the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam tournament in the Open Era of tennis (since 1968).
Serena Williams announced in a guest article for Vogue magazine last Tuesday that she wanted to end her career soon after 27 years. There are many indications that the US Open (from August 29th) will be her last major appearance. Cincinnati should be their last preparatory tournament before the big farewell. At the tournament in Ohio, in 2014 and 2015, she celebrated two of her 73 tournament victories to date.
