David Acosta
Staff Writer
All eyes were centered on tennis legend Serena Williams who at 40 years old previously announced her retirement from tennis following her final Grand Slam U.S. Open tournament at Flushing Meadows, New York. She clarified the word “retirement” as told by The Guardian newspaper as an “evolution” away from tennis.
“I have never liked the word retirement. Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” she said
On Aug. 29 Williams’ hopes remained alive with a first-round victory over Danka Dovinic in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in front of a sold-out capacity crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Celebrities on hand included Queen Latifah, Spike Lee, former President Bill Clinton, Gladys Knight and Mike Tyson. Williams’s husband and 5-year-old daughter were also in attendance.
Williams wasn’t at her best in the early going of the opening set. She got off to a great start with a 2-0 lead only for it to evaporate trailing 3-2 with several miscues that included double-faults and missed groundstrokes. Williams managed to keep her composure and take the next 4 games and the set 6-3.
Williams was more in control in the second set. Her serves and ball placement were spectacular. Chris Evert, who announced the game, was baffled as she commented “Serena hasn’t played this well in five years. Her shots were so much better.” After Williams held serve for a 5-3 lead, her opponent struggled on her last game with a double-fault followed by netting the ball three times and that was all she wrote.
At the conclusion of the match a surprise ceremony was held for Williams. First her husband and daughter joined her at the tennis court followed by CBS Morning personality Gayle King who praised Williams with a particular lyric to a Beyonce song as told by Daily Mail.com : “Serena, you know, you’re like that Beyonce song. I’m one of one. I’m the only one. Don’t even try to compete with me.”
Former tennis great Billie Jean King was next and had nothing but admiration for her. King reminisced when she first met Williams at a clinic in Florida when Williams was only 6 years old. King said, “When Serena serves, don’t change a thing. You are fearless, you hate to lose.” King then touched on something significant regarding Williams as a role model to society and to the sport of tennis as told by Clutch Points: “Thank you for your leadership and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” King, who wore pink as a tribute to Williams’ favorite color, added. “Especially for women, and for women of color.”
Lastly a short video documentary narrated by Oprah Winfrey titled “Dear Serena” depicted the history of Williams as a tennis player and concluded with Winfrey saying, “Just know whatever you do next, we’ll be watching. With love, all of us.”
King returned and called Williams to the “blue carpet” and they embraced. As told by Daily Mail.com, King mentioned to Williams about her upcoming retirement with the U.S. Open strangely celebrating her career even though it’s unofficial.
‘You know, we’re still processing,” King said. ”You’ve known about this for a while this decision that you’ve made but we’re still processing.” Williams then addressed the crowd: “This was a very hard decision. Hard to walk away when you love it so much. I love it because it makes me fit. I want to be a good mom to my 5-year-old daughter Olivia.” The crowd of nearly 24,000 then cheered and roared her name.
A final surprise to Williams was to look at the crowd as they held up blue and white cards chanting, “We Love You Serena.”
Williams, who turns 41 next month, has an impeccable record with 73 singles titles, 23 doubles titles and winnings of nearly $94 million. Williams’ final attempt is to tie Margaret Court with her 24th Grand Slam title.
Williams defeated Anette Kontaveit in the second round on Aug. 31. At press time she was scheduled to square off against Ajla Tomljanovi on Sept. 2.
