Serena Williams celebrates after defeating Estonia’s Annette Kontaveit during their second round singles match at the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on August 31. COREY SIPKIN/AFP/Getty Images
Serena Williams can call it “evolving” or “retiring” or whatever she wants. And she may be coy about whether the US Open will indeed mark the end of her playing days. Those 23 Grand Slam titles earned that right.
If he keeps playing like this, who knows how long this farewell will last?
No matter what happens after her trip to Flushing Meadows is over, here’s what’s important to know after Wednesday night: Williams, 40, is still around, she’s still capable of great tennis, she’s still winning — and , as adoring spectators whose roars once again filled Arthur Ashe Stadium – she’s ready for more.
Williams eliminated No. 2 seed Annette Kontaveit 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 in the second round of the US Open to ensure she will play at least one more singles match in what she hinted that it will be the last tournament of her brilliant career.
“There’s still a little bit in me,” Williams said with a smile during her on-court interview, then admitted in her postgame press conference, “These moments are obviously fleeting.”
Serena Williams fans celebrated when the tennis star turned back the clock on August 31 to defeat world number two Annette Kontaveit and move into the third round of the US Open, once again delaying her retirement plans.
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After beating 80th-ranked Danka Kovinic in straight sets on Monday, then collecting her 23rd win in her last 25 matches against a No. 1 or No. 2 seed against Kontaveit on Wednesday, the six-time champion at Flushing Meadows will play on Friday for a spot in the fourth round.
Her opponent will be Ayla Tomljanovic, a 29-year-old Australian who is 46th in the rankings. They have never met, but Tomljanovic, who said she considers herself a fan of Williams, thinks she knows what to expect from the American – and from those in the seats.
“I’ve played on Court 7 both of my matches so far at the same time with her and I could hear the crowd. I’m like, ‘Court 7’s not that close.’ I kept thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is annoying me and I’m not even playing against her,'” Tomljanovic said. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”
Making Williams’ potential path possibly easier if she can overcome Tomljanovic: 2021 US Open runner-up Leila Fernandez and 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova lost.
On Wednesday, Williams hit serves as fast as 119 miles per hour, stayed with Kontaveit during long exchanges of big swings from the baselines and summoned some of her trademark brilliance when it was needed most.
After pulling out a tough first set and then getting bogged down in the second, Williams headed to the locker room for a break before the third.
Something had to give, someone had to blink.
When they resumed, it was Williams who raised her level and proved to be the better player.
Just as she has done so many times, on so many scenes, with so much at stake.
“I’m just Serena. After I lost the second set, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I better give it my all because this could be it,'” Williams said, surely echoing the thoughts of anyone paying attention.
“I’ve never played like this – since ’98, really,” she said. “I’ve literally had an ‘X’ on my back since 1999, the year she won her first Grand Slam title at the US Open at age 17.
Whatever rust accumulated when Williams missed about a year of play before returning to the tour in late June appears to be gone. She was 1-3 in 2022 entering the US Open.
“It’s kind of coming together now,” Williams said. “I mean it was supposed to come together today.”
Williams also has doubles to play. She and her sister Venus have won 14 major championships as a team and will begin this event Thursday night.
Kontaveit, a 26-year-old from Estonia, is a power hitter in her own right, the type that has swept women’s tennis over the past two decades since a pair of siblings from Compton, Calif., changed the game.
But there is a caveat to Kontaveit’s ranking: she has never won a single quarterfinal match at any Grand Slam in 30 career appearances.
So maybe that’s why, like Kovinich 48 hours earlier, Williams’ opponent was only introduced by her first name and Kontaveit walked out to a standing ovation. Williams, by contrast, got the full treatment: a highlight video, a list of her many accolades and a loud cheer from the crowd, part of the largest U.S. Open attendance in a night session, 29,959, eclipsing the record set Monday.
“This was her moment,” said Kontaveit, who began to cry during the Estonian portion of her press conference and interrupted it. “Of course, it’s all about her.”
As fierce a competitor as tennis or any other sport has ever been seen, as rightly confident in her abilities as any athlete, Williams wasn’t about to think of this whole exercise simply as a celebration of her career.
She came to New York wanting to win, of course.
Wearing the same sparkly crystal-encrusted top and diamond-accented sneakers — complete with chunky gold lace-up tags and the word “Queen” on the right, “Mom” on the left — that she wore on Monday, Williams was ready for prime time.
The match began with Kontaveit grabbing the first five points and Williams the next five. And they went back and forth. Kontaveit’s errors were applauded – even errors that prompted a warning to the crowd from chair umpire Alison Hughes for making noise between serves.
Early in the third set, Kontaveit hit a forehand down the court that caught the outer edge of the sideline. Video on stadium screens showed how close it was, confirming that the ball had indeed hit. This prompted boos from the stands. Williams raised his hand and waved a finger, telling his supporters not to make a fuss.
If anything, Kontaveit got more recognition from the player trying to beat her than anyone else, as Williams responded to great shots with a nod or racket slam.
“They weren’t rooting for me. They just wanted Serena to win so much,” Kontaveit said, calling the treatment she received “fair,” even if it was “something I’ve never experienced before.”
Williams broke for a 5-4 lead when Kontaveit followed with a backhand, spurring screaming spectators to their feet — and Williams’ husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, also jumped, waving his arms in her direction, in front where Venus and Tiger Woods were two places apart.
They eventually went to a tiebreaker and at 3-3, chants of “Let’s go Serena!” broke out, accompanied by rhythmic clapping. Williams soon delivered a 101 mph service winner and a 91 mph ace to seal that set.
To Kontaveit’s credit, she raced to a 3-0 advantage in the second with 10 winners and zero unforced errors.
In the third, after a forehand volley winner gave Williams a game away from victory, she raised both hands, then clenched her left fist.
One game and five minutes later, it was all over – and her US Open stint could continue.
Asked if she was a title contender, Williams said: “I can’t think that far. I’m having fun and I’m enjoying it.”
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