NEW YORK — American Serena Williams is not ready to say goodbye just yet. Nor, clearly, are her fans.
In her first match at what is expected to be the last U.S. Open — and perhaps final tournament — of her remarkable playing career, Williams overcame a shaky start to overwhelm Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-3, 6-3 on Monday night at a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium with an atmosphere more akin to a festival than a farewell.
Looking ahead to a future without tennis competition, the 40-year-old Williams told the crowd, “There’s other chapters in life.”
Early, Williams was not at her best. Maybe it was the significance of the moment. There were double-faults. Other missed strokes, missed opportunities. She went up 2-0, but then quickly trailed 3-2. Then, suddenly, Williams looked a lot more like someone with six championships at Flushing Meadows and 23 major singles titles in all — numbers never exceeded by anyone in the professional era of tennis, which began in 1968.
Williams rolled through the end of that opening set, capping it with a service winner she reacted to with clenched fists and her trademark cry of “Come on!” The more than 23,000 in the stands (thousands of others watched on a video screen outside Ashe) rose for a raucous standing ovation — and did so again when the 1-hour, 40-minute contest was over, celebrating as if another trophy had been earned.
Instead, there is plenty more work to be done. Williams will play in the second round of singles Wednesday against No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia. And there’s doubles play to come, too: Williams and her sister, Venus, are entered together in that competition, with their initial match Wednesday or Thursday.
“Just keep supporting me,” Serena said, “as long as I’m here.”
There can be no doubt, the folks so enthusiastically backing Williams on Monday will come again to the U.S. Open from far and wide for Serena — no last name required, befitting someone as much an icon as superstar athlete — eager to see her play or, if not lucky enough to hold the right ticket, hoping for an autograph or a glance at her practicing.
They were there to honor her and show appreciation for what she has done on the court and off. After watching the victory over Kovinic, spectators held up blue, white or red placards that were distributed at their seats to spell out “We [Heart] Serena.”
After Kovinic was introduced simply by name, making clear to even her what an afterthought she was on this muggy evening, Williams’ entrance was preceded by a tribute video narrated by Queen Latifah, who called Williams the “Queen of Queens.” The arena announcer called Williams “the greatest of all time.”
Spike Lee participated in the pre-match coin toss. Former president Bill Clinton was in the stands.
Will this definitively be Williams’ final tournament?
“I’ve been pretty vague about it, right?” she replied. “I’m going to stay vague, because you never know.”
Notes
• High-profile players who lost on opening day included No. 7 seed Simona Halep of Romania in the women’s bracket and No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the men’s draw.
Daria Snigurof Ukraine beat Halep 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.
Qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia got off to an exceptional start and held on for a 6-0, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Tsitsipas.
• Defending men’s champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia cruised past American Stefan Kozlov 6-2, 6-4, 6-0. Leading 3-0 in the third set in the heat, Medvedev told the chair umpire he wanted a bag of ice so he could put it on his head.