NEW YORK—Serena Williams can see the major summit, she just can't quite reach it.
Despite a spirited second-set fight-back, the 37-year-old Williams suffered her fourth consecutive Grand Slam final loss bowing to Bianca Andreescu, 6-3, 7-5, in tonight's US Open final.
Watch: Andreescu Slams Serena in US Open Final
The 19-year-old Andreescu made history as the first Canadian Grand Slam singles champion, while denying Williams' quest to capture her 24th Grand Slam title and match Margaret Court's all-time record.
Afterwards, the six-time US Open champion summed up her chase of history simply: "so close, yet so far away."
"All of it honestly, truly is super frustrating," Williams told the media. "I'm, like, so close, so close, so close, yet so far away. I don't know what to say. I guess I got to keep going if I want to be a professional tennis player. And I just got to just keep fighting through it. Yeah, I definitely did better than I did against (Simona) Halep."
The greatest server in women's tennis history had dropped serve just three times in six tournament victories.
Tonight, a skittish Serena served just 45 percent, clanked eight double faults, including double-faulting away multiple breaks and saw the 15th-seeded teenager break her vaunted serve five times.
Seeking her first title since she defeated sister Venus to win the 2017 Australian Open, Williams said winning her 24th Slam will come down to getting "the real Serena" to show up for her next major final.
"It's very hard right now in the moment to, like, take this and say, It didn't work out for you today, but it's really hard right now to take that moment in and to say you did okay, because I don't believe I did," Williams said. "I believe I could have played better. I believe I could have done more. I believe I could have just been more Serena today. I honestly don't think Serena showed up. I have to kind of figure out how to get her to show up in Grand Slam finals."
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