Serena Williams works magic again at US Open, upsets No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit in Round 2

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.

The Open, in fact, set another record for night-session attendance Wednesday with 29,959 fans entering the National Tennis Center. It was the second night-session attendance record set in three nights, breaking Monday's 29,402 mark.

Williams' career was celebrated by the tournament on Monday following the match with an on-court ceremony hosted by Gayle King and featuring a video narrated by Oprah Winfrey and a tribute from Billie Jean King.

On Wednesday, there was an equally star-studded affair with Tiger Woods, Dionne Warwick, Anna Wintour, Zendaya, Spike Lee, Gladys Knight, Seal and Anthony Anderson in attendance. Woods, whom Williams credited in her Vogue essay for encouraging her to return to the sport in the spring after nearly a year away, was seated in her player box, as was Wintour, the Vogue