NOT THIS TIME

Serena Williams’ Quest for Record 24th Major Continues as She Crashes Out of U.S. Open

The superstar’s latest bid for the record was cut short by Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who rallied to a 1-6 6-3 6-3 victory.

Serena Williams will surely win a record 24th Grand Slam title at some point—but not at this year’s U.S. Open. The superstar’s latest bid for the record was cut short by Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who rallied to a 1-6 6-3 6-3 victory at Thursday’s semifinals in New York. CNN reported that Williams injured her left Achilles tendon in the second game of the decider, causing a rare mid-game medical timeout, but she later said that the injury wasn’t the cause of her defeat. Azarenka will now face Japan’s 2018 champion Naomi Osaka in the final following Osaka’s hard-fought 7-6 3-6 6-3 defeat of Jennifer Brady. Osaka has been wearing a mask with the names of Black Americans who have died in incidents with police and others. When entering and exiting her match with Brady, she chose to honor Philando Castile, a 32-year-old Black man fatally shot during a traffic stop near St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2016.