WATCH: 'I wouldn't be Serena if there wasn't Venus', Serena Williams breaks down after her retirement

The 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams bowed out of US Open 2022 with loss in Round 3 vs Ajla Tomljanovic. She staved off five match points to prolong the three-hours-plus proceedings, but could not do more, and was eliminated from the US Open on Friday night in what is expected to be her final contest.

"It's been the most incredible ride and journey I've ever been on in my life," Williams said, tears streaming down her cheeks shortly after one final shot of hers landed in the net. "I'm so grateful to every single person that's ever said, Go, Serena!' in their life."

Serena was full of tears and remembered her father who was not present in the arena. She thanked her parents, saying that she could not have done it had they not been there. She also thanked her sister Venus Williams for making her. 

A speech worth of the _@serenawilliams | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/0twItGF0jq — US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2022

"Oh, my God, thank you so much. You guys were amazing today. I tried," Williams told the audience, hands on her hips, before mentioning, among others, her parents and her older sister, Venus, a seven-time major champion.

"I wouldn't be Serena if there wasn't Venus. So thank you, Venus," she said. "She's the only reason that Serena Williams ever existed."

Williams entered the night having won 19 times in a row in the U.S. Open's third round of singles competition, including reaching at least the semifinals in her most recent 11 appearances in New York.

Talk about a full-circle moment: The only other third-round loss she's ever had at Flushing Meadows (she is 42-0 in the first and second rounds) came all the way back in 1998, the year Williams made her tournament debut at age 16.

With PTI inputs