NEW YORK, Sep 1(ABC): Serena Williams returns to the spotlight at the US Open on Wednesday bidding to extend her long goodbye to tennis in a second round clash with world number two Anett Kontaveit.
The 23-time Grand Slam-winner, playing in what is expected to be her final tournament, headlines the night session in another prime-time match at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
On Monday, a galaxy of stars and celebrities turned out to watch Williams make her 2022 tournament bow with a straight sets first round win over Montenegro s Danka Kovinic, the world number 80.
Williams has signalled that this year s US Open will be her last tournament as a professional, revealing in a Vogue magazine essay this month that the “countdown” to retirement had begun.
But the 40-year-old demurred when invited to confirm definitively that she would be retiring after her US Open campaign.
“I have been pretty vague about it, right? I m going to stay vague because you never know,” Williams said with a smile.
She also admitted that the intoxicating atmosphere surrounding Monday s first round match — which felt more like a rock concert than a sporting contest — would be hard to walk away from.
“It s extremely difficult still because I absolutely love being out there,” she said.
Whether Williams is able to extend her US Open campaign further than Wednesday s second round assignment remains to be seen.
If she rediscovers more consistency in her serve, she may well have enough firepower to take down Kontaveit, whose world number two ranking belies a modest record in Grand Slams. Her best result in a major championship is a single quarter-final appearance at the 2020 Australian Open.