Serena Williams party continues following first-round win at US Open

New York celebrated the career of Serena Williams in raucous fashion on Monday night but the party is not over thanks to her first-round victory against Danka Kovinic.

Williams announced earlier this month that the US Open would very likely be her last tournament, bringing an end to a 27-year career that has seen her transcend tennis.

But the 40-year-old is first and foremost a tremendous competitor and she ensured at least one more night under the lights with a 6-3 6-3 triumph.

Broadway may be several miles away from the rather down-at-heel borough of Queens where Flushing Meadows sits but there was only one show in town this New York night.

A record crowd had come to worship their queen and the noise grew louder and louder as a montage voiced by Queen Latifah played of Williams’ six singles titles at Flushing Meadows.

Then out came the woman herself, dressed, as only she could be, in a self-designed gown and shoes featuring diamonds, crystals and gold.

“I think when I walked out, the reception was really overwhelming,” she said later. “It was loud and I could feel it in my chest. It was a really good feeling. It’s a feeling I’ll never forget. That meant a lot to me.”

The diamonds in her hair twinkled in the lights while among her family and friends sat courtside was four-year-old daughter Olympia wearing a matching outfit and beads in her hair like the ones her mother sported for her maiden triumph 23 years ago.

It was all a little unfair on Kovinic, who had walked onto court to polite applause some minutes earlier, busying herself with her pre-match routines as the noise swept around her.

Film director Spike Lee, one of a number of celebrities in attendance, performed the coin toss before both players tried to compose