Serena Williams Beats World No. 2 To Advance To Third Round Of US Open

Serena Williams, playing what could be the last US Open of her storied career, won her second-round singles match Wednesday evening, downing world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (4) 2-6 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

“After I lost the second set, I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, I got to give my best effort because this could be it,'” Williams told ESPN in an on-court, post-match interview.

Williams looked better than previous matches this year, where she was still trying to shake the rust of a long layoff.

In world No. 2 Kontaveit, however, Williams faced a much sterner test and was undoubtedly the underdog on paper but certainly not with the full house at Arthur Ashe Stadium. A boisterous but behaved crowd cheered her every point.

Williams will next face Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round. Tomljanovic, who was playing at the same time as Williams on Wednesday, defeated Russian Evgeniya Rodina 1-6, 6-2, 7-5.

And Williams is not playing just singles; she will open doubles play with her sister Venus Williams on Thursday night.