It began with a video in which Queen Latifah styled her the queen of Queens, continued with a sparkling swirl of diamonds and gold, and ended with a touching on-court address by Billie Jean King and a montage narrated by Oprah Winfrey. Nobody could accuse the US Open of underselling the final leg of Serena Williams’s brief farewell tour. It was just a wonder there was still time to fit in a tennis match.
Then again, this was about more than just sport. New York had come to pay tribute to an icon, to a woman who, as King said afterwards, has “touched hearts and minds” and become a standard bearer for “diversity, equity and inclusion, especially for women and women of colour”. It was an evening as glittering and extravagant as the achievements of Williams herself.
Even Williams, who has said she is “evolving away” from tennis, felt the weight of the occasion. The 40-year-old had to pare down the six-layer design of her dress – one for each title she has won in New York – because it was too heavy to move freely. No matter. Her figure-skating inspired outfit, complete with detachable cape, crystal-encrusted bodice, and shoes adorned with diamonds and gold, was perfect for a night on which the stars came out not only above Arthur Ashe Stadium, but within it.
Bill Clinton, the former US president, was there. Mike Tyson sat beside Martina Navratilova. Matt Damon and Hugh Jackman, brought an appropriate touch of Hollywood. Even the coin toss, in which film director and US Open regular Spike Lee participated, was a star-studded affair. There was just one problem: the champion of 23 grand slams was not quite ready to say goodbye.
Williams, playing her fifth match since returning from a year-long absence at Wimbledon, was understandably nervous in the early stages against Danka Kovinic, a 27-year-old from Montenegro ranked 80th in the world.
But to rapturous acclaim – and the evident delight of her daughter, Olympia, whose beaded hair seemed to channel the spirit of her mother’s younger self – Williams produced a performance of steadily growing authority to claim a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It means the show will go on, at least for another couple of days, until she plays Anett Kontaveit, the second-seeded Estonian whose underwhelming form will offer plenty of encouragement to both Williams and her adoring public.
“I’m just not even thinking about that,” said Williams. “I’m just thinking about just this moment. I think it’s good for me just to live in the moment now.”
What a moment it was. The wall of noise that greeted Williams as she took to the court felt almost tangible. The tournament proudly declared afterwards that 29,402 people showed up to pay homage, which is not bad for a stadium with a capacity of 23, 771. Yet it felt believable, such was the deafening clamour.
“The atmosphere was a lot,” said Williams. “I think when I walked out, the reception was really overwhelming. It was loud, and I could feel it in my chest. It was a really good feeling. It’s a feeling I’ll never forget, so that meant a lot to me.”
Kovinic is unlikely to forget it in a hurry, either. Once a top-50 player, the Montenegrin has posted the best results of her career at grand slam level this season. She defeated Emma Raducanu en route to the third round of the Australian Open, and reached the same stage at Roland Garros, where she proved a handful for Iga Swiatek, the world No 1. Yet nothing Kovinic has done previously could have prepared her for this.
“In some moments during the match, I couldn’t hear my shots, and also hers. Sometimes it was very tough to see, when she hit the ball, if it was going deep or short,” said Kovinic. “Definitely on the outside courts, we don’t have this experience.”
If it was a trial by fire for Kovinic, the early onus was all on Williams. Two consecutive double faults in the opening game did not make for the most auspicious start, but this was not the Williams who had lost so tamely to Emma Raducanu in Cincinnati. She steadied herself to stave off two break points, back-to-back aces carrying her to game point, and when Kovinic netted a mid-court ball to concede the game, the ear-splitting din must have been audible from Manhattan.
A similar eruption followed when Williams drilled away a swing volley to claim an early break. But Kovinic had not come merely to make up the numbers. The Montenegrin quickly hit back to level, and another exchange of service games followed before Williams broke to love in the eighth game. This time, she survived a topsy-turvy service game to seal the set. Williams was on her way. Her ball-striking became ever cleaner. Her movement sharpened by the moment. She would not be caught.
Will we ever see her like again? Do not rule it out. Asked afterwards if this would indeed be her last tournament, Williams was intriguingly non-committal.
“I’ve been pretty vague about it, right?” smiled Williams. “I’m going to stay vague, because you never know.”