American Serena Williams is set to play the final tournament of a phenomenal career at the US Open, with the aim of extending the fun against Montenegrin Danka Kovinic in her first round in New York.
She is an immense champion who should bow out after a prolific career. On the emblematic Arthur Ashe court, which promises to be full to the brim with 23,800 spectators expected, Serena Williams will appear on Monday August 29 at 7 p.m. local time against Danka Kovinic (11 p.m. UT, Tuesday August 30 at 1 a.m. for France). There, everything had started for her, when in 1999 she offered herself the first of her 23 Grand Slams, at only 17 years old.
The greatest player of all time
Whatever the outcome of this match, the 40-year-old American (she will celebrate her 41st birthday on September 26) will not yet leave the courts of Flushing Meadows for good. Benefiting from an invitation, she will also play the doubles tournament alongside her older sister Venus (42), who she has not yet announced an upcoming retirement.
But for Serena Williams, who is considered the greatest player of all time, even if she remains one length away from the absolute record of Majors held by Australian Margaret Court, it is the singles that prevails. ” I hope she will have fun commented four-time tournament winner John McEnroe, indicating that she ” don’t come to lose in the first round “.
However, she was beaten as soon as she entered the competition in June at Wimbledon by the 115th world, the French Harmony Tan, for her return to singles after a year of absence, due to a leg injury. Then, the former world number 1, now down to 413th place, only spent one round in Toronto, then lost from entry to Cincinnati. But the public will come to see above all an icon of the little yellow ball saying goodbye to the scene.
She changed tennis
More than a domination, it is a revolution that Serena Williams has imposed on women’s tennis during her twenty years of reign – almost – unchallenged. The American has changed tennis “, has “ opened the doors “, has “ invented bullying “, brings the “ business “, noted his former coach Patrick Mouratoglou in September 2021, to explain how her champion was the greatest player in history.
Since he was handed his first racquet shortly after his fourth birthday, only his sister Venus has, at times, challenged his superiority. From Roland-Garros 2002 to the Australian Open 2003, four consecutive Grand Slam tournaments ended with the same poster: Williams against Williams. Never seen.
At the head of an immense record with 7 Australian Open, 3 Roland-Garros, 7 Wimbledon, 6 US Open, but also 14 Grand Slam titles in doubles with his sister and four Olympic gold medals (one in singles , three in doubles), Serena won her 23rd and last “Major” in Australia in 2017. Since then the quest for a 24th title has eluded her.
She grew up in the violent Compton ghetto
While some might have seen the birth of her first child in September 2017, after a complicated pregnancy and childbirth, as a sign of early retirement, the youngest of the Williams has on the contrary shown that her daughter Olympia was an additional motivation for her. Returning to competition in March 2018, she regained her level and played four more finals, two at the US Open and two at Wimbledon, but in vain.
The 40-year-old American announced in early August that the “ countdown » of her retirement had begun, admittedly without specifying either when or where she would bow out. Without waiting, the New York public snatched places for the US Open. “ There comes a time in life when we have to decide to take another direction. That moment is always hard when you love something so much “, she had entrusted to the magazine Vogue at the beginning of August, promising to” savor these next few weeks “.
At the twilight of her career, Serena Williams remains the player who grew up in the violent ghetto of Compton, near Los Angeles, and whose abnegation and rage to win have never been denied. “ Don’t underestimate her “Warns his compatriot Chris Evert, six times winner of the US Open like Williams.
“ I grew up watching her play. She’s the reason I play tennis »
Serena has shown, like Arthur Ashe before her in men’s tennis or Tiger Woods in golf, that it is possible for blacks to find a place in these microcosms of whites, despite the many obstacles, to better dominate and even revolutionize the discipline. ” As a black tennis player, I looked different. I spoke differently. I dressed differently. I served differently. But when I walked on the court, I could compete with anyone summed up Williams a few years ago.
” Serena worked hard for a long time, with determination, dedication and discipline. I hope she stays in tennis somehow; it would be good for tennis. Serena is a legend “, declares the Spaniard Rafael Nadal. Most of the great players on the circuit had strong words to pay tribute to the American. “ I grew up watching her play. She’s the reason I play tennis “, recently confided Coco Gauff, 18-year-old African-American, finalist of the last Roland-Garros.
To finish where it all began in 1999, and if possible with dignity, is Serena Williams’ ultimate challenge.