NEW YORK — Serena Williams' expected retirement was put on hold yet again after the 23-time major champion pulled off a 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2, upset over No.
2 seed Anett Kontaveit in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium. «It's no rush here,» Williams said during her on-court interview after a match that ran two hours, 26 minutes. «I'm loving this crowd.
Oh my goodness. It's really fantastic. So there's a little left in me.» Williams, 40, first announced her plans to «evolve» from tennis in a first-person essay in Vogue earlier this month, citing her desire to grow her family.
Since her initial reveal, she has received countless tributes and ovations and her matches have become must-see events. An average of 2.7 million viewers tuned into ESPN for her match on Monday night — almost four times higher than the comparable timeslot earned in 2021 — and a record number of fans were on the grounds.