The US Open threw the closest thing to a farewell celebration that Serena Williams would allow for her opening-round match on Monday night. But if a party was all that the 23-time grand slam singles champion wanted, she could have thrown herself one and skipped all those hours of sweat on the hard courts back home in Florida.
Serena did not come to New York simply for a ceremonial send-off, to listen to another series of elegies about how she has changed this sport and so much else. She knew all of that, better than anyone. There is another legacy that Serena possesses as much as all the others — as one of the world’s great competitors.
And she came to New York to compete in a grand slam, seemingly her final one, to once more put her best on the line against the finest players in the world. On Wednesday night she won 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-2, outlasting Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, the world’s second-ranked player, an opponent who, like Serena, loves nothing more than blasting tennis balls as she tries to overwhelm whoever is standing on the other side of the net.
If that first appearance two nights earlier was about posterity and sweet send-offs, round two was about doing everything possible to win a tennis match in front of a whole new gallery of boldface names, like Tiger Woods, who sat in Serena’s box, and some 23,000 other very partial observers at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“There’s still a little left in me,” she said on the court when it was done. “I love a challenge, I love rising to the challenge.” Serena will face the unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in the third round. “I’m having fun, I’m enjoying it,” she said.
At the post match media conference, Serena was asked: “Are you surprised at yourself with your level?” Serena chuckled and answered: “Well, I’m a pretty good player. This is what I do best. I am just Serena you know.”
Serena acknowledged Woods’ presence. “He’s one of the reasons I’m here, one of the main reasons I’m still playing. He was really trying to get me motivated,” she said after her win. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” said Serena, who signalled her intention to retire earlier this month.
“I was just lost, so many questions,” she said. “When you can rely on someone like that, I mean, my goodness, he’s Tiger Woods, it was helpful to get clarity.” Woods returned the compliment. “It was a privilege to watch greatness. Congrats @ serenawilliams,” he tweeted. On Wednesday night, no matter who prevailed, it was never going to be a match with much subtlety.
In front of another capacity crowd, one of them, (assuming she keeps her word), was playing to extend the greatest career in modern tennis, and to show her daughter, Olympia, just what she is capable of. Olympia turned five on Thursday and showed up to this tournament in the iconic beads her mother wore the first time she began to rule this sport on this same stage. “I’ve grown up watching her win so many Grand Slams,” said Kontaveit, 26.
“I always remember how fiercely she competed for every point.” The crowd roared as she wrapped up the match and sat on her chair and soaked it all in. It looks like more are on the way. This is what she came for.
(Written with New York Times News Service and Reuters inputs)
Cannabis turns Kyrgios off
Nick Kyrgios said the odour of cannabis that permeated Louis Armstrong Stadium during his second-round match at the US Open on Wednesday killed his buzz and left him fearing that it could aggravate his asthma. Kyrgios took time during the second set of his win over Benjamin Bonzi to complain to the chair umpire about the smell.
“People don’t know I’m a heavy asthmatic,” Kyrgios said after his win over the Frenchman. “When I’m running side to side, I struggle to breathe.”
Rattled Kontaveit
Anett Kontaveit said she expected the crowd to throw their full support behind Serena Williams during her win on Wednesday, but the environment was “hard”. “When you’re on the court, I mean, it was hard... it was something I never experienced before.”
