Tennis: Serena Williams centre of attention at US Open as end nears

Serena Williams plays on centre court on day one at the US Open today. Photo / AP

They came to the US Open from far and wide for Serena — no last name required, befitting someone as much an icon as superstar athlete — eager to see her play or, if not lucky enough to hold the right ticket, hoping for an autograph, a glance at her practicing or merely the chance to breathe the same Flushing Meadows air as her.

As thousands waited in lines to enter the tournament grounds hours before her match, then headed to smaller courts for earlier action or simply around, waiting and wading in the palpable excitement, no one present could know for sure how many more opportunities there will be for any of it. Folks were there to watch, or just think about watching, Serena Williams swing her racket the way she did to 23 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other person in the professional era of tennis that began in 1968, because she has said she is ready to move on from her playing days.

And they were there to honour her and show appreciation for what she's done on the court and off.

Williams was scheduled to play her first-round match in Arthur Ashe Stadium against Danka Kovinic today, slated to start sometime shortly after 11am (NZT).

She means a lot to a lot of people. As a tennis player. As a woman. As an African American. As a mother. As a businesswoman.

"When she started out, female athletes weren't getting recognised. She's done so much," said Quintella Thorn, a 68-year-old from Columbus, Georgia, making her eighth trip to the US Open. "And now, she's ..."

"Evolving," chimed in Thorn's friend, Cora Monroe, 72, of Shreveport, Louisiana, which she noted is where Richard Williams — the father of Serena and sister Venus, and the central figure in the Oscar-winning film "King Richard" — is from, too.

Tennis fans pose for photos next to a life-sized image of Serena Williams during the first round of the US Open tennis championships. Photo / AP

That word, "evolving," is the one Williams said she preferred to the more commonly used "retirement" when she wrote in an essay for Vogue released about three weeks ago that she was ready to concentrate on having a second child (her daughter, Olympia, turns 5 on Thursday) and her venture capital firm.

While Williams did not exactly declare that the US Open definitively would be her last tournament — she also is entered in doubles with Venus, who is 42 and a seven-time major singles champ herself — she has made it sound as if it will be.

"Once Serena announced she would play the US Open, we sold out in a nanosecond for Monday night and Tuesday night. You can see on the secondary market, the get-in price is $230. I saw US$5800 (NZ$9400) for a courtside seat this evening. Look, this is a historic moment for the Williams family, for Serena and our sport," said Stacey Allaster, the tournament director of the American Grand Slam event. "It is so difficult to really capture what Serena and Venus have done for the sport of tennis. They have transformed our sport. They've made us more inclusive. And they've transcended sports."

Serena Williams practices at Arthur Ashe Stadium before the start of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York. Photo / AP

Which is why today mattered more than the usual Day 1 at a major tournament. And why the daily program did not make mention of any other of the dozens of athletes in action, showing instead a montage of six images of Williams holding her six US Open trophies above the title: "Serena Williams, A Legacy of Greatness." And why there was a sense of less importance for matches involving other elite players such as past US Open champions Bianca Andreescu, Andy Murray, Daniil Medvedev and Dominic Thiem, or French Open finalist Coco Gauff, an 18-year-old American.

Kriti Kamath, a 9-year-old from Boston, toted an oversized yellow tennis ball in hopes of gathering some signatures — perhaps even after Williams' planned pre-match hitting session in the evening, before her contest — as she walked outside Ashe with her mother, Neethor Shenoy.

TIME's new cover: What @serenawilliams gave the world https://t.co/GYx4NskwHZ pic.twitter.com/gxxXj5ABWf

— TIME (@TIME) August 29, 2022

Shenoy has told her daughter, who plays tennis, about Williams' significance.

"She's very motivated. She's very driven. And she's an inspiration to all women; all coloured women, particularly," Shenoy said. "She's giving a kids a positive path to follow."

Mum said she's been travelling from Boston to New York for the US Open since 2004; this was Kriti's first day of competition, but they were on site earlier in the week for "Fan Week." The US Tennis Association said more than 90,000 free online passes were downloaded for that run-up to the main-draw action, an increase of more than 35 per cent from the last pre-pandemic tournament in 2019.

The USTA said it sold more than 16,500 tickets for the tournament on the day Williams revealed her intentions, more than in the previous seven days combined. That included more than 4600 for Monday night alone, making it a sellout.

Monroe and Thorn said they have tickets for both the daytime and nighttime sessions, which are sold separately, for each of the tournament's initial three days.

Yesterday, both were wearing blue T-shirts: Monroe's was emblazoned with "Serena" four times in different shades of purple; Thorn's carried a black-and-white photo of Williams beside the words "Greatest Female Athlete" — with "Female" crossed out.

Monroe said she admires the Williams sisters "just for how they have carried themselves; they are an inspiration," and that she and Thorn couldn't wait to be in the stadium for Williams vs. Kovinic.

"Serena's going to win tonight," Monroe said. "So we'll see her Wednesday when she plays again."

- AP