Serena Williams salutes Tiger Woods as US Open run continues

Serena Williams hailed the influence of Tiger Woods after the golfing great persuaded her to return to the court and then cheered her on to victory over second seed Anett Kontaveit at the US Open.

This was a sparkling performance from the diamond-clad veteran, who produced her best tennis since reaching the Australian Open semi-finals last January to win 7-6 (4) 2-6 6-2 and reach the third round.

The dream ending – a record-equalling 24th grand slam singles title in her final tournament – is still a long way away, but this display showed that it might just be a possibility.

Williams revealed in the Vogue essay announcing her "evolution" away from tennis that Woods had given her advice on whether to have one final crack.

Last night, she said of the golfing great, who was there to support her: "He's one of the reasons I’m here, one of the main reasons I’m still playing. We talked a lot. He was really trying to get me motivated.

"There’s a few people, but we were like, 'OK, we can do this together’. It was good, because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was just lost, so many questions. When you can rely on someone like that – I mean, my goodness, he’s Tiger Woods – it was really helpful to get clarity."

Coming back to the sport is certainly looking a wise move now, and Williams, who next faces Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, clearly believes she has more to offer.

"It’s no rush here," she said. "I’m loving this crowd. There’s still a little left in me. We’ll see. I’m a pretty good player, this is what I do best. I love a challenge and I’m rising to the challenge.

"I haven’t played many matches, but I’ve been practising really well. The last couple of matches it’s come together. After I lost the second set I thought, ‘I’ve got to