The Serena Williams of old delights on delirious second night at US Open

Throughout a breathless, intense first set during what could have been the last singles match of her career, Serena Williams stared down the No 2 player in the world, Anett Kontaveit, and responded to her challenge with an immaculate performance. In the second set, though, she was barely holding on. As she saved a break point at 1-3 with a sweet, curling ace, she raised her hands to the sky, enraged she could not find that shot each time she served.

If this were any other 40-year-old in the history of tennis, with the rust of a one-year layoff and the nerves of her final event, such shortcomings would be expected. But this is Serena Williams. She not only held herself to stratospheric standards, but somehow fully met them during the delirious second night of her Arthur Ashe Stadium residency. In defeating Kontaveit, she delayed her singles retirement for another round by producing at least one last legendary moment in a career filled with them.

After the pageantry of her opening-round win, with its on-court ceremony and a Billie Jean King speech, the second round felt different. The crowd was slightly more muted, not merely there to say goodbye, while Williams was laser-focused. She was immediately locked in during the high-intensity first set, one filled with quality shotmaking from both but dominated by the Williams serve – she is still, at 40, the best server in the world. Under suffocating pressure, she sealed the tiebreak as she has done so many times over the years – an unreturned serve followed by an ace.

To her credit, Kontaveit played a flawless second set, flashing winners off both wings and kissing lines, but Williams simply responded by further elevating her level and managing the match supremely well at the