Serena Williams ‘shuns interview’ after rout

The US tennis icon is on a 'farewell run' of tournaments ahead of her retirement

Serena Williams appeared to decline an on-court interview as the American great suffered another bruising defeat ahead of her imminent retirement, going down in straight sets to defending US Open champion Emma Raducanu in their first-round meeting at the Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday.

Raducanu wasted little time seeing off the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, running away with a 6-4 6-0 victory in 65 minutes against Williams, who revealed last week that the upcoming US Open would be her swansong.

But unlike her previous appearance at the Canadian Open, where she gave an emotional interview in front of fans following a second-round defeat to Belinda Bencic, Williams was described as avoiding attempts to interview her on court in Ohio.

“Serena 0-2 since announcing her retirement. Emcee tried to stop her for an on-court interview for the crowd, but Serena blew past,” wrote tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg.

What a send off