No holding Serena Williams back in ‘final’ US Open

Serena Williams signalled she is not quite ready for retirement advancing to the second round of the US Open on Monday with a scrappy 6-3 6-3 win over Danka Kovinic.

The victory over the 80th ranked Kovinic, her second this year, will be a confidence boost for Williams but the path to a record equalling 24th Grand Slam now gets treacherous.  

Waiting in the wings is Estonian second seed Anett Kontaveit, who breezed past Jaqueline Cristian 6-3 6-0.

Williams indicated her intention to retire in a Vogue article in early August, saying she was “evolving away from tennis” but never confirming the US Open as her final event.

For tennis fans, however, the message was clear, the US Open would be where she would take her final bow.

Could there be an encore?

The former-world No 1 has played coy even refusing to rule out next year’s Australia Open.

But in a strange post-match ceremony celebrating her career, which was not yet finished, Williams gave the clearest sign yet that the US Open will indeed be her last tournament and expanded on that later in her press conference.

“It’s extremely difficult still because I absolutely love being out there,” said Williams. “The more tournaments I play, I feel like the more I can belong out there.

“But it’s time for me, you know, to evolve to the next thing.”

Pressed if the US Open was definitely her last event Williams again stepped back from the brink.

“I’ve been pretty vague about it, right,” smiled Williams. “I’m going to stay vague because you never know.”

Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur produced the performance of her career to upset twice Grand Slam winner Simona Halep 6-2 0-6 6-4.

The 20-year-old Snigur showed poise beyond her years to break Halep in the opening game and again in the third as she capitalised on a mounting number of unforced errors from the Romanian.

However, Snigur’s form fell apart in the second set as Halep stormed through six games in 24 minutes to roars of approval from the crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

But Halep, who won the Canadian Open title for the third time earlier this month before pulling out of Cincinnati with an injury, failed to maintain that momentum as she dropped her serve in the first and fifth games.

The 30-year-old broke Snigur in the eighth game to stay alive, and fended off two match points in the next game.

But Snigur kept her nerve to seal victory before bursting into tears. She then formed a heart shape with her hands around the Ukrainian ribbon pinned to her shirt.

“I’m very, very, very nervous but I tried to do my best,” she said, her voice shaking, in an on-court interview. “For Ukraine, for my family ... I want to say thank you, all.”

Former US Open winner Stan Wawrinka hinted that he was getting closer to hanging up his racket after being forced to retire mid-match during his opening round contest against French lucky loser Corentin Moutet.

Wawrinka, 37, had twice called the trainer on court to tend to his finger and was trailing 6-4 7-6(7) when he signalled he could no longer continue against Moutet, who managed to make the main draw despite losing in the qualifying stage.

It was the sixth straight defeat for the three-time Major champion, who lifted his last Grand Slam trophy at Flushing Meadows in 2016.

“I’m getting closer to the end. That’s for sure. It’s a reality,” Wawrinka told reporters.

Reuters