The racket broken by Serena Williams in the final of last year's US Open has sold at auction for nearly $21,000 ©Getty Images

Serena Williams' smashed racket from her infamous US Open final defeat by Naomi Osaka last year has been sold for $20,910 (£15,941/€18,756) at an auction.

Williams damaged the racket in the bad-tempered defeat, a match which sparked controversy after the 23-time Grand Slam champion was docked a game for clashing with umpire Carlos Ramos.

The item was up for sale with Goldin Auctions.

Williams initially gave her smashed racket to ball boy Justin Arrington-Holmes, who sold it to a dealer in Manhattan for $500 (£380/€450) earlier this year, according to The New York Times.

The racket broken by Serena Williams at the 2018 US Open final was given to a student Justin Arrington-Holmes, a ball boy at the match, who later sold to a dealer for just $500 ©Goldin Auctions
The racket broken by Serena Williams at the 2018 US Open final was given to a student Justin Arrington-Holmes, a ball boy at the match, who later sold to a dealer for just $500 ©Goldin Auctions

"Looking back I wish I'd had someone help me with the process," said Arrington-Holmes.

"I was not familiar with how any of this works.

"I just wanted to get rid of it."