The 23 Majors champion continues in New York and extends her withdrawal
Serena Williams still has some gas in her engine. The American won in an electric and farewell atmosphere at Flushing Meadows against Danka Kovinic (6-3 and 6-3) and advanced to the second round of the US Open, extending her retirement for at least two more days.
The youngest of the Williams won her second match in a year and a half at the age of 40 and in front of an enthusiastic crowd that reached 25,000 spectators at the Arthur Ashe Grand Slam in New York. Tickets reached thousands upon thousands of dollars for what could have been the last game of the career of the Michigan woman, who dropped a few weeks ago that this US Open would be her last dance on the track.
“Getting out on the track and seeing the ovation… It’s something that surpasses you. It was incredible and I could feel it in my chest. It’s a very nice feeling. I will never forget it. It means a lot to me,” explains Serena.
In a tournament she won six times, the last in 2014, Serena had no problem beating the world number 80 and increasing her win counter in New York to 107. The 108 will look for her against Anett Kontaveit, the second-seeded tournament and a much harder nut to crack than his debut. The Estonian, winner of six WTA titles, is one of the best players on cement today, but she never made it past the third round at the US Open.
Former President Bill Clinton and boxer Mike Tyson were some of the stars invited to the stands to witness what could have been the last of Serena’s matches, as well as her daughter Olympia, who wore white chains in her hair like his. mother when he first won the US Open in 1999
The ‘Armada’ had no luck on the first day of competition in New York. Roberto Bautista caused the most negative surprise when he fell on his debut (6-4, 6-4 and 6-4) against American JJ Wolf, number 87 in the ranking. The Castellón native, eliminated first, never made it through the round of 16 at the US Open.
Bernabé Zapata also fell, pushing Tommy Paul to the limit (4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 and 7-5), Nuria Parrizas, who could not beat Hungarian Dalma Galfi (6-4 and 6 -3), and Sara Sorribes, who lost to Russian Viktoria Kuzmova (6-3 and 6-4).
They did advance in their debut Alejandro Davidovich, beating Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka (6-3, 7-5 and 6-3) and Pablo Carreño, who won Austria’s Dominic Thiem for the first time in his career, champion here in 2020 , with 7-5, 6-1, 5-7 and 6-3.
The big surprise of the day came from Colombian Daniel Elahi Galán when he eliminated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-0, 6-1, 3-6 and 7-5). Tsitsipas, number five in the world, chose number one in this US Open if he won the tournament on September 11.
Current number one, Daniil Medvedev, did not suffer from the title defense victory, sending Stefan Kozlov 6-2, 6-4, 6-0.
Source: La Verdad
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