“I am simply Serena,” she stated matter-of-factly, a quote that may little doubt go down as one of the crucial memorable in sport.
That means to search out one other gear and dig even deeper in probably the most tough moments has supplied the bedrock for Williams’ sustained success over greater than 20 years on the Tour.
Given her type coming into the US Open — only one win since returning to the circuit in June after a yr out with harm — it was truthful to imagine that Williams’ opening spherical match in opposition to Danka Kovinic can be little greater than an emotional farewell from tennis for the 23-time grand slam champion.
However being “simply Serena,” Williams produced by far her finest tennis of the season to consummately dispatch Kovinic and lengthen her final dance in New York by no less than one other couple of days.
Then got here Kontaveit, the world No. 2 and one of many hardest gamers on Tour. The Estonian would offer a a lot sterner check than Kovinic and Williams undoubtedly went into their match because the appreciable underdog.
Certainly, after two glittering a long time on the high, that is the place Williams’ profession would come to finish? In fact it did not. She is, in spite of everything, “simply Serena.”
In her three-set win over Kontaveit, Williams elevated her stage of tennis to a spot many thought she might not be capable of attain. The accuracy and energy in her broadly feared serve appear to have returned, as has her velocity across the court docket.
Now, going into her third-round match in opposition to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, the perceptions round what Williams may obtain have actually shifted. For the primary time at this yr’s US Open, she’s going to go right into a match as the favourite and with the load of expectation that she ought to win.
Not that that is something new for one of many biggest athletes of all time.
Tomljanovic, at the moment the world No. 46, reached a career-high rating of 38 this season and has loved some notable success in 2022, together with quarterfinal runs at Wimbledon and the latest Cincinnati Open.
The group is as soon as once more prone to be a figuring out issue on Friday, because it was within the second spherical when an overwhelmed Kontaveit struggled in a raucous environment.
“It was laborious,” Kontaveit advised reporters after her defeat. “It was one thing I by no means skilled earlier than. I do not assume it is a private assault in opposition to me or something. I imply, it is truthful.
“It was so tough to deal with the group and every part,” she added, breaking down in tears. “I believe this was the toughest on this recreation.”
How Tomljanovic copes with the environment will likely be simply as vital as how she copes with the 23-time grand slam champion staring her down from the opposite finish of the court docket.
Throughout her US Open run, Williams has loved help from a few of the greatest names in sport, notably from a pumped up Tiger Woods, who was current in Arthur Ashe for her second-round win.
Former males’s world No. 1 Roger Federer, winner of 20 grand slam titles, was the most recent to supply Williams some phrases of encouragement.
“For now, take pleasure in this second,” he stated. “Benefit from the US Open. Get pleasure from it with every part that is coming the subsequent couple weeks although I do know it is likely to be laborious for you.
“However I am pondering of you, and you’ve got all of my respect. And I want you all of the very, absolute best in your future.”
Whether or not Williams’ run ends on Friday or not, her electrifying performances on the US Open have supplied a becoming finish to an illustrious profession.
