Serena Williams delayed her farewell and debuted with a solid victory

Serena Williamswho recently announced that he was ready to retire from tennis and suggested that he would do so after the US Open, defeated Montenegrin Danka Kovinic in the first round on Monday this Grand Slam.

Winner of 23 ‘majors’, Williams, 40, defeated Kovinic by doubles 6-3 in a duel of one hour and 40 minutes played amid great expectations in New York ahead of what is likely to be his last game after an impressive and monumental career.

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Williams, who played just four games all year (one win and three losses), will face Estonian Anett Kontaveit in the second round of the tournamentnumber 2 in the WTA ranking.

A SPECIAL DAY

The atmosphere at Flushing Meadows was that of the big days, something that was not appropriate for the first day of the tournament.

With the stands packed, the crowd went wild for Williams from the moment she set foot on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the US Open’s center court.

“Thank you, Serena”, “The greatest of all time”, “Queen of the track” or “Welcome to the Williams show” They are some of the messages that the tennis player can read on the posters and banners carried by his followers.

Among those fans are famous people like former US President Bill Clinton (1993-2001), filmmaker Spike Lee or former skier Lindsey Vonn, as well as some very special people for Williams such as her son which is Olympia, who turns five this week .

For such an occasion, Williams also chose a special uniform: a black set designed by himself with Nike.which features six tiered skirts (one for each of her six US Open titles) and is stunningly topped with diamonds.

NERVES AND EMOTIONS

With so many emotions on and off the track, Williams began her match against Kovinic with some nerveswho had problems with double faults and had to solve his first ‘break’ balls against.

The Montenegrin didn’t look well either and at the start of the first set break of service was exchanged without either taking command.

After trailing 2-3, Williams bounced backgained depth in his forehand and reliability in his serve and took four straight games to win the first set 6-3.

The audience did not hide their affection for Williams and they erupted with joy at every point the American won.

Increasingly confident on court, Williams maintained that trend in the second set and withheld any reaction from her rival.

After breaking Kovinic’s serve to take a 3-2 lead, Williams never looked back, sealing the second set and the match in a blank game to the rest and wearing a big smile as she tied the victory in front of the crowd.

“It was a very difficult decision (retirement) because when you love something and you love something so much it’s always hard to leave. (…). But I think now is the time,” Williams said after the match in a special tribute to the US Open. In which, for example, another tennis legend like Billie Jean King participated.

The special tribute to that track ended with the entire audience forming a mosaic of blue and white cardboard with a message reading “We Love You, Serena” (we love you, Serena).

A ‘LAST DANCE’ ALSO IN DOUBLES

Apart from her tour in the women’s singles draw, Serena will also have a ‘last dance’ in the doubleswhere she will participate with her sister Venus after receiving a letter of invitation to the tournament, which will mark their return to the courts as a team for the first time since 2018.

The last time Serena and Venus played together was at Roland Garros in 2018 and that time they lost to Spaniard María José Martínez Sánchez and Slovenian Andreja Klepac.

Serena and Venus have won fourteen double ‘majors’ together, including the 1999 and 2009 US Opens.