After saying earlier this month that the countdown to her retirement had begun, Williams will step on courtroom at Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows for what might be her remaining look in a Grand Slam singles occasion.
Rennae Stubbs coaches Serena Williams throughout apply in preparation for the 2022 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2022 within the Queens borough of New York City. Picture: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP.
NEW YORK – Serena Williams will take centre stage as the US Open will get beneath method on Monday with the 23-time Grand Slam winner getting ready to bid an emotional farewell to tennis.
After saying earlier this month that the countdown to her retirement had begun, Williams will step on courtroom at Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows for what might be her remaining look in a Grand Slam singles occasion.
The 40-year-old sporting and cultural icon received the primary of her Grand Slam titles on the identical venue in 1999, lifting the trophy as a fresh-faced 17-year-old.
In Monday’s sold-out evening session, which begins at 7:00 pm (2300 GMT), Williams will face Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic, the world quantity 80.
Whether Williams is ready to prolong her US Open marketing campaign past that match stays to be seen.
In her final outing on the Cincinnati Masters earlier this month, Williams was thumped 6-4, 6-0 by Britain’s Emma Raducanu — who herself was knocked out of the Australian Open by Kovinic in January.
Win or lose on Monday, Williams will not be departing the US Open stage instantly.
On Saturday, organisers confirmed that she and elder sister Venus Williams had been given a wild card into the ladies’s doubles match, which begins on Wednesday.
It is the primary time the Williams sisters have performed doubles since 2018, reuniting a partnership that has yielded 14 Grand Slam titles and three Olympic gold medals.
Whenever Serena Williams does depart the stage, she’s going to achieve this after a profession that has left an enduring legacy on her sport.
“I just think she’s the biggest thing that will ever be in the sport,” stated Japan’s Naomi Osaka on Saturday.
“It’s just really an honour just to watch her play. She’s giving us a chance to watch her more.”
NADAL FITNESS CONCERN
Elsewhere within the girls’s draw, Poland’s world primary Iga Swiatek will look to say her second Grand Slam title of 2022.
The French Open champion received six straight tournaments earlier this season however has struggled to recapture that dominance through the North American hardcourt swing, making early exits at each the Cincinnati Masters and Canadian Open.
Swiatek launches her US Open marketing campaign on Tuesday towards Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
In the lads’s draw, Spanish nice Rafael Nadal is chasing a fifth US Open crown and twenty third Grand Slam title in a draw that’s lacking Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic was barred from entry to the United States over his refusal to get vaccinated towards Covid-19, placing him at odds with US authorities journey restrictions for abroad guests.
With Djokovic out of the image, Nadal’s greatest opponent over the subsequent fortnight could be his personal injury-prone physique.
The Spaniard has needed to sit out the US Open 4 occasions in his profession and there are as soon as once more recent doubts over his bodily potential to outlive a gruelling two weeks at Flushing Meadows.
Nadal has performed simply as soon as since an belly damage pressured him to withdraw from his Wimbledon semi-final with Nick Kyrgios — a first-up loss to Borna Coric in Cincinnati.
Nadal admitted on Friday that he had been defending his damage in Cincinnati however had been capable of apply with depth within the build-up to the US Open.
“I take it very easy in the Cincinnati, too, in the practices. The match, I try my best without putting all the effort there on the serve,” Nadal stated.
“I hope to be ready for the action. That’s the only thing that I can say.”
Nadal begins his US Open marketing campaign towards Australia’s Rinky Hijikata on Tuesday.