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Defeat has always been hard to swallow for the fiercely
competitive Williams and the 40-year-old American's relentless
will to win was on full display during an absorbing two-hour 27
minute contest of unexpected high quality, breathless intensity
and drama.
Williams had signalled her intention to retire earlier this
month, saying she was "evolving away from tennis", but never
confirmed the U.S. Open as her final event.
Any farewell has now been put on hold with Williams due back on
centre court on Thursday for a doubles match with older sister
Venus, followed by a third round clash on Friday with Australian
Ajla Tomljanovic who was a 1-6 6-2 7-5 winner over Russia's
Evgeniya Rodina.
"I'm a pretty good player," said Williams with a sly grin when
asked how she downed the world number two. "This is what I do
best - I love a challenge, I love rising to a challenge."
"The last couple matches here in New York it's really come
together.
"I'm super competitive - honestly I'm just looking at it as a
bonus.
"I have absolutely nothing to prove."
With 23 Grand Slam titles and widely regarded as the greatest
women's player of all time, Williams indeed has done it all on
the tennis court.
But after two wins the once-unthinkable dream of a Hollywood
ending to Williams' career -- snatching an elusive 24th major to
go level with Margaret Court at the top of the all-time list --
just might be in the cards.
Asked if she was starting to believe she could win a seventh
U.S. Open, Williams demurred, insisting she was still taking it
a match at a time, but said things were "coming together".
"I cannot think that far," said Williams. I'm here, I'm having
fun and I'm enjoying it.
"I'm playing pretty good.
"I feel I've been practicing really well, but it hasn't been
coming together in matches.
"But, you know, now it's kind of coming together."
A former world number one for 319 weeks, Williams arrived in New
York ranked below 600, unseeded and with just a single match win
from three events coming into the season's final Grand Slam.
It had been over a year - at the 2021 French Open - since
Williams last posted back-to-back wins. She faced a daunting
challenge in 26-year-old Kontaveit, a player whose game was
built for the hardcourt and who won five of her six career
titles on the surface.
With none of the pre-match festivities that took place ahead of
her first round match against Danka Kovinic to distract her,
Williams stepped onto the court with her game face on. She
delivered a performance that had an Arthur Ash Stadium record
crowd of 29,959, including fellow sporting greats Tiger Woods
and Lindsey Vonn, on its feet.
"I knew it was coming," said Kontaveit. "It was something I
never experienced before.
"I think they were not rooting like against me. They just wanted
Serena to win so bad.
"So, I don't think it's a personal attack against me or
anything."
Williams claimed the first break in an enthralling opening set
to go 5-4 up only to have Kontaveit immediately break back to
ensure a tie-break.
The tie-break was no less riveting, Williams clinching it 7-4 in
classic fashion with a thundering ace.
But the Estonian would not be intimidated by either Williams or
a frothing crowd, grabbing two early breaks in the second set to
jump 3-0 in front on the way to pulling level.
After two draining sets the New York crowd, like they had so
many times over the years, provided the fuel to lift Williams in
the third as she charged to a 4-1 lead and never let go.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in New York, additional reporting by
Amy Tennery and Rory Carroll, editing by Richard Pullin)
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