Serena Williams

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 ...

[US Open](https://www.tennis365.com/category/us-open/) Support from the stands was, of course, virtually entirely for Williams. I really enjoy just coming out and enjoying it.” The last couple of matches it’s come together. “I haven’t played many matches, but I’ve been practising really well. I’m a pretty good player, this is what I do best. I don’t have anything to lose. I love a challenge and I’m rising to the challenge. It was good, because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. “I’m just looking at it as a bonus. “I’m loving this crowd. I was just lost, so many questions.

Serena Williams has delighted tennis fans by defeating world No.2 Anett Kontaveit following her announcement that she would be stepping away from the sport.

"Honestly I am just looking at it as a bonus, I don't have anything to prove," she said. She continued: "This is what I do best. There is still a little left in me, we will see." Open](https://www.newsweek.com/us-open-tennis-serena-williams-hadid-jackman-celebrities-1737997) has gone viral on social media. "I don't have anything to win, I have absolutely nothing to lose." "We celebrate all that you have been, all that you are, and all that is to come."

Serena's childhood coach talks about how the toss developed when she was young and how it allows her serves to be so powerful.

Just the contact point of the racket on the ball changing. Various graphic stats from over the years have shown how Serena’s toss gets the ball to be bunched up together almost at the same spot in the air – just a mere inch or two the difference through a game. “Unnatural movement, but that helps the ball to be almost still, gentle.” The ball gently starts to glide from middle to the tips. The ball sits on the middle of the fingers as she lifts her left arm up straight. But that’s yet to come, and much of our focus, and opponent’s, is on the fastest serve in women’s tennis, but rewind a couple of seconds to appreciate what allows that threat to be unleashed. A statue outside US Open flushing meadows can be sculpted: the ball rolling off the tips of her finger, her eyes on the orb, the fingers twirled out like a flower blooming, with the hint of the chill-rising threat coming from behind – that right hand, locked at the elbow, the racket threatening an imminent strike.

The 40-year-old not only held herself to stratospheric standards against Anett Kontaveit, but somehow fully met them.

The pressure could have been suffocating but, as she has so many times in her career, she rose to the occasion. On Thursday night, Williams will return to the same venue, at the same time alongside her sister, Venus, as they compete together in the doubles for the final time, a spectacle which may well be even more emotional and essential than the singles. She asked Williams if she was surprised by her level on the court, which prompted a laugh and a very pointed stare. Over the course of her two hours and 27 minutes on court, she played all of the hits at least one more time: the aces and vicious return winners that she saved for important points, the roars and the anguish alike, her heart laid out on her diamond-encrusted sleeves. Her first serve was mesmerising, but averaged only 99mph in the first set – she has not served much under pressure this past year so was initially extremely careful, prioritising precision and percentage over power. 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 close.

Serena Williams' final US Open has been one to remember, but the 23-time grand slam singles winner is refusing to look far ahead.

The decorated sportswoman defeated Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in front of a packed Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre during the second round of the ...

The WNBA's Chicago Sky even joined in following their victory in game two of the WNBA semi finals against the Connecticut sun, by tweeting out: 'We won. The Vice President tweeted: 'Thank you Serena Williams for inspiring people around the world with your talent, grace, and determination both on and off the court. Film director Spike Lee also made his second appearance at one of Williams' matches this tournament. I’m a fan and enjoying every minute!!!,' Paul tweeted. Support: Serena Williams was cheered to victory by a veritable army of celebrity fans, among them supermodel sister Bella and Gigi Hadid, as she pushed retirement to one side during an emphatic victory at the US Open on Wednesday evening The decorated sportswoman defeated Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 in front of a packed USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre at New York's Flushing Meadows during the second round of the annual championship - her last as a player.

A tearful Anett Kontaveit admitted it was “difficult to cope with the crowd” during her defeat to Serena Williams at the US Open.

“It was so difficult to cope with the crowd and everything. “I am surprised that she can keep it up but we’ve seen Serena do this at Grand Slam tournaments when she hasn’t had a lot of matches. “In the first set she was serving so well in these important moments. She is a threat now. “It was her moment. I was trying to do my own thing. She was better today. She definitely raised her level in the third set. I was very aware of that.” “It’s not a shame to lose to Serena,” she said in tears. Kontaveit conceded that the partisan support was “tricky” to handle but said she still felt the crowd was “fair”. A tearful Anett Kontaveit admitted it was “difficult to cope with the crowd” during

Fans react as Serena Williams, of the United States, competes against Anett Kontaveit, of Estonia, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships ...

2 seed Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 in the U.S. She lost in the first round there and was 1-3 in 2022 entering the U.S. Open's second round to ensure that she will play at least one more singles match at what she's hinted will be the last tournament of her illustrious career.

Serena Williams, looking to further delay the end of her storied tennis career, will take on world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia at the US Open in ...

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After winning 23 Grand Slam titles, Serena Williams is engaged in what may be her final tournament at the US Open. The 40-year-old announced this month she ...

She also owns 14 Grand Slam doubles championships, all won with her older sister Venus. After winning 23 Grand Slam titles, Serena Williams is engaged in what may be her final tournament at the US Open. After winning 23 Grand Slam titles, Serena Williams readies to step away from tennis.

With 38 major championships between them, Tiger Woods and Serena Williams both know about longevity.

[loss to 19-year-old Emma Raducanu](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/17/serena-williams-emma-raducanu/?itid=lk_inline_manual_7&itid=lk_inline_manual_11) on Aug. And I’m going to miss you.” Her trip to Wimbledon this summer [ended with a first-round loss](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/06/28/serena-williams-wimbledon-first-round-harmony-tan/?itid=lk_inline_manual_11) and an injury when she slipped on wet grass. I’m going to miss that version of me, that girl who played tennis. “He’s Tiger, and he was adamant that I be a beast the same way he is! At that point, she said she “was good. You just go out on the court every day for two weeks and give it your all and see what happens.’ I said, ‘All right, I think I can do that.’ ” For now, her evolution is on hold. 2 player](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/31/serena-williams-round-2-us-open/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) in the world in the U.S. Her last match before the U.S. [took the court to face the No. Williams had played just four matches in the past 14 months, winning only once.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion advanced after claiming a third set packed with haymakers and winners, beating the second-ranked woman in the world.

“I guess there’s just a light at the end of the tunnel,” she added. “I don’t know, I guess I’m closer to the light, so . Three weeks ago at a tournament in Toronto, she had struggled to finally win something, anything, even if it was two brief sets over a player outside of the top 50, Nuria Parrizas Diaz. Her style of play, all thrust and pummeling attack, has taken an enormous toll on her body over the years — and she has been playing in the wake of a Caesarean section and two pulmonary embolisms. After suffering a first-round loss at Wimbledon to Harmony Tan, she said: “Today was what I could do. A few weeks ago, she was done, played out, scrabbling for confidence and just hoping for a decent ceremonial farewell at the U.S.

Women's tennis expert Jose Onorato has revealed his U.S. Open 2022 picks for the first-round matchup in women's doubles between Serena Williams-Venus ...

Venus has 22 doubles titles in her career, racking up a record of 185-37 (83.3 percent), while Serena has 23 doubles crowns and a 192-34 (85 percent) mark. [Visit SportsLine to see Jose Onarato's bets for the 2022 U.S. Noskova, meanwhile, is just 17 but has been climbing up the singles rankings and is listed at No. She has registered a 614-282 (68.5 percent) mark since turning pro in 2004. Open 2022 odds and released his coveted best bet for the Serena Williams-Venus Williams vs. Noskova has won one ITF doubles title, while Hradecka has won two grand slam doubles titles, the last coming in the 2013 U.S. The last time was in 2003. Open doubles title in 2009, and have not combined to win a doubles championship since the 2016 Wimbledon crown, their sixth in that event. Now, Onorato has scrutinized the latest U.S. Caesars Sportsbook lists Serena Williams-Venus Williams as the -175 favorite (risk $175 to win $100) on the money line, while Linda Noskova-Lucie Hradecka is at +130. Linda Noskova-Lucie Hradecka doubles picks or 2022 U.S. Open tennis doubles championship together when they take on Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka in a first-round match on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Venus and Serena will play in what could be their final doubles match as teammates on Thursday. Let's check the stats on how sensational they are in singles ...

She won gold in singles and doubles at the 2000 Games, doubles at the 2008 Games and doubles at the 2012 Games. 1](https://www.espn.com/tennis/news/2002/0223/1339623.html) in the WTA rankings and spent 11 weeks there. She trails Navratilova (9), Serena (7) and Graf (7). That's the most by any player in the Open Era. 367 and 73: Serena has won 367 major matches, the most by a woman in tennis history. Williams won the 2017 Australian Open at 35 years, 124 days old, becoming the oldest woman to win a title in the Open Era. 1 in the WTA rankings, becoming the oldest person to hold the top spot. 1 and 2 in the WTA rankings. Serena again has the edge with a 7-2 record. 14: Entering the 2022 US Open, Venus and Serena have won 14 women's doubles Grand Slams as partners. It's also the first women's doubles night session there since the Williams sisters lost to Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko in the third round in 2012. It's the first doubles night session at Arthur Ashe since Mike and Bob Bryan defeated Colin Fleming and Jonathan Marray in the men's doubles quarterfinals in 2013.

We asked Kenyan political sociologist and gender expert Awino Okech what lessons can be learned for African women in sports when reflecting on Williams' career.

[Naomi Osaka](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/57310701) and US gymnastics champion [Simone Biles](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/simone-biles-olympics-mental-health-athletes/#:%7E:text=United%20States%20gymnast%20Simone%20Biles,up%20about%20their%20mental%20health.) taking a stand. [due to privatisation](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7223727/). The first is the absence of strong financial advice and support to athletes over the course of their careers. She [withdrew from and boycotted](https://www.insider.com/venus-serena-williams-indian-wells-boycott-before-naomi-osaka-incident-2022-3) events such as the BNP Paribas Open in California because of racial slurs from the crowd. In the visual and verbal descriptions of Serena in the public media, we saw the use of historically [racialised tropes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/09/11/long-history-behind-racist-attacks-serena-williams/) of the angry Black woman and animalistic caricatures by the media and social media users. The financial security built of decades of success in a sport does not translate in the same way in contexts shaped by vast economic disparities. The race problem in sports – which becomes visible through online abuse, spectator behaviour and overall sports management – is reflective of a broader problem. [One study](https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/58e4c303ca2197f5/original/FIFA-Threat-Matrix-Report.pdf) revealed that Black football players who missed penalties were the most abused players in the Euro 2020 championship final stage. [Serena Williams](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Serena-Williams), considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, is [retiring](https://www.vogue.com/article/serena-williams-retirement-in-her-own-words) from professional tennis. However, the combination of race and gender doubles the battle that Serena Williams and other international athletes like South African sprinting champion Williams has won 23 grand slam singles titles, more than any [other woman](https://www.statista.com/statistics/280390/female-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/) or [man](https://www.statista.com/statistics/263034/male-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/) during the professional era, which began in 1968. Consequently, Serena’s iconic stature as a tennis star has been coloured by the gender and racial dynamics that have shaped her treatment in the sport.

They will face off in a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday, a venue that feels like home to Williams even if it has not always been a haven.

Kontaveit and Shelby Rogers, her American partner, could also face Williams and her sister Venus in the second round of the women’s doubles tournament. For Anett, I think the key is to just go out and try to play her best tennis but also enjoy the moment. “I think her ball speed, serve and return is really up to her prime time,” Beltz said of Williams. It’s going to be a big challenge, a great challenge, but I think she wants that challenge and wants to embrace it.” This will be Kontaveit’s first match with Williams but not the first match Beltz will coach against Williams. Though Kontaveit reached the final of the Qatar Open in February, this has been a trying season. “She was not fit, but she’s very close again to get this back and is playing better in practice really well now. “I couldn’t get a ticket,” Beltz said. But it’s great to face a champion, I think. Kontaveit, a prodigy who won the Estonian women’s singles title at age 13, received instruction from her mother Ülle Milk in her formative years. “I think it’s such a great opportunity.” More novelty lies ahead on Wednesday night in the second round of the U.S.

Annett Kontaveit left her media obligations with tears in her eyes following the second-round loss to Serena Williams at the US Open on Wednesday night.

Anett Kontaveit leaves her press conference in tears after Serena Williams US Open loss and admits the raucous Arthur Ashe crowd was 'very difficult'... It was her moment. 'I was trying to do my own thing. 'She definitely raised her level in the third set. Of course, this is totally about her. She was better today.

It was a wild scene as Serena Williams upset the US Open's No. 2 seed to continue what could be her final run. Here's a collection of photos from the match.

This is this week's ForbesWomen newsletter, which every Thursday morning brings news about the world's top female entrepreneurs, leaders and investors ...

[America’s Richest Self-Made Women](https://www.forbes.com/self-made-women/), Forbes interviewed her about her plans as an investor and featured her in a cover story for the magazine. But with a little bit of innovation and a shift in your perspective, you Learn to get along with the most difficult person at your work. Difficult coworkers can hijack your emotions and energy. [A tweet last night](https://twitter.com/ByTimReynolds/status/1565159379640455169) from Associated Press writer Tim Reynolds helps put her success into perspective: Williams’ first U.S. Here’s a look back at what Williams told us about the early days of her life as an entrepreneur. Three years later, that firm has grown: In March this year, it said it had [raised $111 million](https://twitter.com/SerenaVentures/status/1498662870770401287?s=20&t=9kovpL4zl2kwzQ5XNQ1gXg) from investors for a portfolio of some 60 companies. “I mean, I’m just Serena,” she replied, earning raucous laughter from the crowd. I hope you can draw some inspiration from it, too. Serena Williams might have come to the U.S. [asked Williams if she was “surprised” by her level of play](https://e.email.forbes.com/c2/869:6307b95612b7670eff23a398:ot:5d13e0471802c8c524fc40ef:1/33715430?jwtH=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9&jwtP=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&jwtS=VX5NBz54PB14covaNa3xOzulgRaFo7CwsNMcwTo8JKk) during her upset win, Williams gave a knowing laugh. Open for a goodbye tour, but make no mistake: She is playing to win.