When Serena Williams' incredible historic run came to an end against Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semifinals, we all stood up and applauded her, but deep down, Williams was grieving.
The loss broke her heart.
"I've played injured most of the year -- whether it was my elbow, my knee, or in the finals moments after a certain match in Flushing, my heart," Williams said in a statement on Thursday announcing the early end to her competitive season.
That loss in Flushing, New York, to Vinci broke her 33-match Grand Slam winning streak and cost her a shot at completing a calendar year Grand Slam, which hadn't been achieved since Steffi Graff did it in 1988.
Another step toward tennis immortality was hers to take that match, but an unseeded, unheralded Vinci snatched it away. What some have called "the biggest upset in tennis history" is, of course, going to sting.
So while Williams' admission of hurt is more than understandable, it's still a bit surprising.
The emotional build-up that comes from feeling pressure to perform is nothing new to Williams, but during the 2015 U.S. Open, she kept a cool aura, dancing and sipping tea at night while saying "I don't feel that fresh pressure" during the day.
She may have created a reality distortion field to handle the weight of potential tennis history, but when it came crashing down, it really, really hurt. As her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou indicated on Wednesday though, time will be Williams' best therapist in the offseason months.
"Any loss is very painful for her, but this one even more than usual, so it just takes time to recover from it," he said.
Get well soon, Serena.
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