Serena Williams won her first match at the US Open

Serena Williams isn’t ready to say goodbye yet. Obviously not her fans.

In her first game in what will likely be the US Open – and the final tournament – of her remarkable playing career, Williams overcame a shaky start by beating Danka Kovinic 6-3, 6-3 on Monday night at a stadium . packed. With a more festive atmosphere than a farewell.

Looking to a future without competitive tennis, Williams told the crowd, “There are other chapters in life.”

Before, Williams was not at his best. Perhaps that was the meaning of the moment. There were double faults. Other missed shots, missed opportunities. He went up 2-0 but quickly fell behind 3-2. Then suddenly Williams, less than a month after his 41st birthday, looked a lot more like the man who has six Flushing Meadows titles and 23 Grand Slam titles, the most in the professional tennis era that began in 1968. . .

He hit the bottom of the opening set, closing it with a winning serve to which he reacted with clenched fists and his trademark cry of “Let’s go!” More than 23,000 participants received a standing ovation and did so as the 1 hour and 40 minute competition ended, celebrating as if another trophy had been won.

Instead, there’s a lot more work to be done. Williams will face Estonia’s No. 2 seed Annette Kontveit in the second round of singles on Wednesday. There’s also a double round ahead: Williams and her sister Venus will compete together in the event, with their opening match set for Wednesday or Thursday.

“Keep supporting me,” Williams said, “while I’m here.”

No doubt the people who supported Williams so enthusiastically on Monday will once again come from far and wide to the US Open for Serena (no last name needed, as befits an icon such as a superstar athlete), eager to see her play. . If you’re out of luck, grab the right ticket, hoping for an autograph, a peek into his practice, or just a chance to breathe the same Flushing Meadows air as him.

They were there to honor him and show their appreciation for what he did on and off the court. After watching her defeat Kovnic, spectators held up blue, white or red banners that read “We (heart) Serena” on their seats.

After Kovnik was introduced simply by name and it became clear even to her what she meant to the tumultuous night, Williams’ entrance was preceded by a tribute video narrated by Queen Latifah, who called the American the “Queen of Queens”. The arena announcer called Williams “the greatest of all time” and said, “This US Open marks the final chapter of his tennis history.”

While Williams didn’t exactly say the US Open would be her last tour, she made it sound like it would be.

So this opening trip became a capital “E” event.

Spike Lee participated in the pre-game coin draw. Former President Bill Clinton was in the stands. Just like Mike Tyson and Martina Navratilova, sitting next to each other.

As Williams walked to the practice court for a half-hour warm-up before Monday’s game, the crowd lining the bleachers above the practice court greeted her with chants of “Serenaaaaa!” She received a racket wave of thanks as she entered and was booed again as she left, before Williams returned to the stadium with his mouth shut.

It means a lot to many people. as a tennis player As a woman, as an African American. as a mother as a businessman

“When it started, female athletes were not recognized. She’s done a lot,” said Quintella Thorne, 68, of Columbus, Ga., who is making her eighth trip to the US Open. “And now she…”

“Evolution,” interjected Thorne’s friend Cora Monroe, 72, of Shreveport, Louisiana, where she pointed out that there’s Richard Williams, father of Serena and her sister Venus and the central figure in the Oscar-winning film. King Richard – It’s also.

That word, “evolution,” is what Williams said she preferred to the more commonly used “retirement” when she wrote in an essay for Vogue about three weeks ago that she was ready to focus on having her second child and growing her own. venture capital. . signature.

Her daughter Olympia, who turns 5 on Thursday, wore white beads in her hair as she sat with her father and grandmother in the stands on Monday, echoing her mother’s hairstyle when she won her first US Open at age 17. in 1999.

“When Serena announced that she was going to play at the US Open, we sold out Monday night and Tuesday night in a nanosecond. You can find it on the secondary market, the entry price is 230 dollars. I saw $5,800 for a courtroom tonight. Look, this is a historic moment for the Williams family, for Serena and for our sport,” said Stacey Alastair, US Grand Slam Tournament Director. “It’s very difficult to quantify what Serena and Venus have done for tennis. They changed our sport. They made us more inclusive. And they transcended the sport.”

That’s why Monday was more important than the usual first day of a big tournament. And why none of the dozen other athletes were mentioned on the daily show, which featured a montage of six images of Williams holding six US Open trophies above the headline: “Serena Williams, a legacy of greatness.” And why there was less sense of importance for other elite players, like former US Open champions Bianca Andreescu, Andy Murray and Daniil Medvedev, or French Open finalist Coco Goff, an 18-year-old American.

Kriti Kamath, 9, of Boston, was carrying an oversized yellow tennis ball in hopes of collecting signatures, perhaps even after Williams’ scheduled pre-game batting session the night before the competition, as she walked outside Ash. His mother, Nethor Shenoy.

Shenoy told her daughter, who plays tennis, about the importance of Williams.

“He is very motivated. He’s very motivated. And she is an inspiration to all women; All women of color especially,” Shenoy said. “It gives children a positive path forward.”

His mother said he has traveled from Boston to New York for the US Open since 2004; It was Kriti’s first day of competition, but they were at the venue earlier in the week for ‘Fan Week’. The US Tennis Association said more than 90,000 free passes were downloaded online for the main draw, 35% more than the last pre-pandemic tournament of 2019.

The USTA said it sold more than 16,500 tickets for the tournament on the day Williams announced his intentions, more than the previous seven days combined. This included over 4,600 on Monday night alone, making it a hit.

Monroe and Thorne said they had tickets to the day and night sessions sold separately for each of the tournament’s three opening days.

Both wore blue shirts on Monday: Monroe wore “Serena” four times in different shades of purple; Thorne posted a black and white photo of Williams with the words “Greatest Female Athlete” crossed out.