The 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams continued the suspense of her retirement even on Monday (August 29) after her first round win against Danka Kovinic in the US Open 2022. After her win, she left the world guessing her last tournament with “you never know” remark.
After defeating Montenegro’s Kovinic in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, Williams addressed the retirement question and said: “Yeah, I’ve been pretty vague about it, right?”
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“I’m going to stay vague, because you never know,” added Williams in an on-court interview.
“At this point, honestly, everything is a bonus for me, I feel. It’s good that I was able to get this under my belt. … I’m just not even thinking about that. I’m just thinking about this moment. I think it’s good for me just to live in the moment now.”
Williams announced her retirement plans earlier this month and it was believed that the US Open will be her farewell tournament. However, she has now put a vague turn to it. But amongst all of this, she urged her fans, saying: “Just keep supporting me as long as I’m here.”
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Williams was the highlight of the evening from her very first step on the hard-court. She received a grand welcome as record number of spectators showed up to see Williams playing in one of the prestigious tennis tournaments. The electric opening night shattered the US Open attendance record as a total of 29,402 fans showed up and thus these figures have now become the largest attendance ever recorded for an evening session at the tournament.
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 30, 2022
Among the spectators, Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian, daughter Olympia, mother Oracene Price, agent Jill Smoller and Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue magazine, in which Williams announced her impending retirement were present.
Others who were spotted in the crowd were former US President Bill Clinton, former tennis star Martina Navratilova, Mike Tyson, Katie Couric, Matt Damon, Anthony Anderson, Hugh Jackman, Spike Lee, Vera Wang, Ons Jabeur and Coco Gauff.
Williams will now be seen in action against number two seed Anett Kontaveit in the second round on Wednesday (Wednesday 31).
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