By Victor Kanayo
Retiring Tennis star, Serena Williams, made a u-turn temporarily in the ongoing US Open with a sparkling opening win on Monday morning (Nigerian time) in New York.
The sweet win by 23-time Grand slam winner, was in front of a record 29,402 attendance- a sold-out, celebrity-filled Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York filled with entertainment, celebrations, and eulogies for the legendary tennis player.
Williams, who is set to retire after the tournament, won 6-3, 6-3 against Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic.
The sports icon became only the fourth woman in the Open Era to win matches in her teens, 20s, 30s and 40s, as she won in straight sets (6-3 6-3) against 80th ranked Kovinic.
A near-capacity 25,000 crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium willed on their idol, who responded in typical determined style.
Williams, 40, will play Estonian second seed Anett Kontaveit in the second round on Wednesday.
The multiple Grand Slam singles champion, who is one short of Australian Margaret Court’s all-time record, is also playing in the doubles alongside older sister Venus, adding another exciting element to what she hopes will be a long goodbye this fortnight.
Her first assignment was beating Kovinic, ranked 80th in the world, and there was a thunderous noise when she took the first of three match points to ensure her singles career was not over yet.
Williams jumped on the spot when Kovinic’s backhand return hit the net, then twirled ecstatically in the centre of the court before blowing kisses to her adoring fans when she had returned to her seat to soak in the occasion.
Williams has long been more than a tennis player and it was a sign of her status – as an American icon and one of the world’s most recognisable sport stars – that she announced her retirement in an essay for glossy fashion magazine Vogue.
Although the former world number one did not use the word retirement itself, preferring to say she was “evolving away” from the sport, there is no mistaking her intention is to end her glittering career this fortnight at her home major.
Williams’ daughter Olympia, wearing white beads in her hair in a tribute to her mum’s style when she won the 1999 US Open, sat on the front row, alongside her dad Alexis and in front of grandmother Oracene.
The entire family jumped to their feet when Williams clinched a victory which will long live in the memory for those who saw it.
