US Open
First victory in farewell tournament: Serena Williams defeats Danka Kovinic
Damkbar: This is how Serena Williams shows up after her first game at the US Open
© John Minchillo/AP/DPA
Grand Slam tournament winner Serena Williams started the US Open with a win. She won both sets against Danka Kovinic 6:3. Hollywood personalities had traveled to the match.
Sports icon Serena Williams has postponed her departure from the big tennis stage again. The 23-time Grand Slam tournament winner won at the start of the US Open on Tuesday night against Danka Kovinic (Montenegro) 6: 3, 6: 3. At their expected farewell tournament, the long-standing world number one will meet number two seeded Anett Kontaveit from Estonia in the second round.
The guest list for the highlight game at New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium was full of A-listers: Hugh Jackman, Mike Tyson, Lindsey Vonn, Spike Lee, Queen Latifah, Bill Clinton and many more. In addition, almost 24,000 fans who had paid horrendous prices for a ticket on the black market.
At the hard court tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where she won her first Grand Slam title in 1999 at the age of 17, Williams still competes in doubles with her sister Venus.
Serena Williams: From “is the hardest thing I could ever imagine”
Williams announced her retirement as a competitive athlete three weeks ago – in style for her in the fashion magazine “Vogue”. When she thinks about it, she feels “great pain. It’s the hardest thing I could ever imagine,” the American, who will soon be 41, explained.
Williams is considered by many to be the best tennis player in history, even if she falls just short of Australia’s Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 individual triumphs in the four major tournaments.