NEW YORK — Serena Williams‘ expected retirement was put on hold yet again after the 23-time major champion pulled off a 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 upset of No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It’s no rush here,” Williams said during her on-court interview after a match that ran 2 hours, 26 minutes. “I’m loving this crowd. Oh my goodness. It’s really fantastic. So there’s a little left in me.”
Williams, 40, announced her plans to “evolve” from tennis in a first-person essay in Vogue earlier this month, citing her desire to grow her family. Since her initial reveal, she has received countless tributes and ovations and her matches have become must-see events.
An average of 2.7 million viewers tuned in to ESPN for her match Monday night — almost four times higher than the comparable time slot earned in 2021 — and a record number of fans were on the grounds.
The tournament, in fact, set another milestone for night-session attendance Wednesday, with 29,959 fans entering the National Tennis Center. It was the second such record set in three evenings, breaking Monday’s 29,402 mark.
Williams’ career was celebrated by the tournament after her match Monday, with an on-court ceremony hosted by Gayle King and featuring a video narrated by Oprah Winfrey and a tribute from Billie Jean King.
On Wednesday, there was an equally star-studded affair with Tiger Woods, Dionne Warwick, Anna Wintour, Zendaya, Spike Lee, Gladys Knight, Seal and Anthony Anderson in attendance. Woods, whom Williams credited in her Vogue essay for encouraging her to return to the sport in the spring after nearly a year away, was seated in her player box, as was Wintour, the Vogue editor.
While there was no formal ceremony after Wednesday’s match, Williams was given a similar reception from the nearly 24,000-person crowd. She was again introduced as she took the court as the “greatest of all time,” and the capacity crowd loudly cheered for her throughout, resulting in multiple reminders from the chair umpire for silence during play.
“I think you can only have this experience once in a lifetime, for sure,” Williams later said about the atmosphere.
It was Williams’ first meeting with the 26-year-old Kontaveit, who has won five titles since August 2021, but she appeared to be more than prepared for the hard-hitting battle and relentless rallies.
Williams took the hard-fought first set in a tiebreak, sealing the opener with an ace. But the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – TENNIS…