Serena Williams herself was a little surprised by the farewell ceremony in her honour – because she hadn’t lost at all. “Thank you, I didn’t expect that,” said the tennis star.
The organisers of the US Open had planned a big show following what was supposed to be the last singles match in the 23-time Grand Slam winner’s glorious career – and pulled it off despite the protagonist’s victory.
There were thank-yous from tennis icon Billie Jean King, for example, and pictures of earlier days of success were shown on the video screen. The spectators in the Arthur Ashe Stadium did a choreo (“We love you, Serena”), and at the end her family was allowed onto the court. And Williams herself? She smiled and said thank you. The 40-year-old US-American was able to postpone the big farewell pain a little by beating Danka Kovinic (Montenegro) 6:3, 6:3 in her opening match on Tuesday night.
Tough task in round two
“Just come back and support me as long as I’m here,” the long-time world number one said into the stadium microphone addressing the fans. In her farewell tournament, Williams will face second seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the second round on Wednesday – a very tough task.
Against Kovinic, Williams’ lack of match practice was evident at first. At the beginning, her first serve was hardly there and she rarely had the right feeling for timing and strokes. But the longer the match lasted, the more confident Williams became. The reward: the 21st win in her 21st US Open opener – and at least one more appearance on the big tennis stage.
Victory in glitter outfit
This one is likely to be celebrated again. Against Kovinic, Williams was dressed in a black glitter outfit. According to media reports, the dress, headband and shoes were studded with 400 small diamonds. The guest list for the highlight match was full of A-list celebrities: Hugh Jackman, Mike Tyson, Lindsey Vonn, Spike Lee, Queen Latifah, Bill Clinton and many more. In addition, there were almost 24,000 fans, some of whom had paid horrendous prices for tickets on the black market.
At the hard-court tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where she won her first Grand Slam title as a 17-year-old in 1999, Williams is still competing with her sister Venus in doubles.
Williams announced her retirement as a professional athlete three weeks ago – in style for her in the fashion magazine “Vogue”. She feels “great pain at the thought of it. It’s the hardest thing I could ever imagine,” the soon-to-be 41-year-old American explained.
Williams is considered by many to be the best female tennis player in history, even though she is likely to fall just short of Margaret Court’s all-time record. The Australian has 24 singles triumphs in the four most important tournaments.
Out for Tsitsipas
In the men’s night session, meanwhile, the first title co-favourite bowed out. Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) surprisingly lost to Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 0-6, 1-6, 6-3, 5-7. Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios, on the other hand, did not show any weaknesses, beating his Australian compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
