Serena Williams will get to remain round some time longer within the last U.S. Open of her historic profession.
With a bevy of celebrities paying tribute Monday evening in Arthur Ashe Stadium starting from former president Invoice Clinton to Mike Tyson, the 40-year previous Williams dismissed Eightieth-ranked Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, 6-3, 6-3. Williams, a six-time U.S. Open champion, will face No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit within the second spherical on Wednesday.
It was unattainable to foretell what sort of stage Williams would be capable of produce Monday given how few matches she has performed just lately and the individuality of this event, having introduced earlier this month that she is transitioning away from tennis to different endeavors.
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After recovering from a hamstring harm and never taking part in any tournaments for a full calendar 12 months, Williams got here again at Wimbledon and misplaced within the first spherical to Concord Tan. Her subsequent outcomes didn’t supply a lot proof of a deep U.S. Open run with only one win and routine losses to top-20 gamers Belinda Bencic and Emma Raducanu.
However Williams, wearing a black Nike gown with glowing diamond adornments impressed by determine skating outfits, moved and served higher in opposition to Kovinic than she had within the warm-up tournaments in Cincinnati and Canada. That allowed her to outlive a shaky first set and take full management within the second, constructing confidence in opposition to an opponent who struggled with the enormity of the second.
Kovinic had the chance to take management of the opening set, and actually momentarily believed she had secured a 4-2 lead. As a substitute, a mishit backhand return from Williams bought a chunk of each traces in Kovinic’s forehand nook to maintain her alive within the recreation. That little bit of misfortune appeared to rattle Kovinic, who subsequently double faulted twice and didn’t win one other recreation within the set.
Williams made extra unforced errors than winners (23-to-25) however hit 66 p.c of her first serves, making it tough for Kovinic to get a foothold within the match.
