“We first met when she was six years old, I'll never forget that day; mama Oracene was there” - Billie Jean King on Serena Williams
Serena Williams began her 2022 US Open campaign with a straight-sets win against Danka Kovinic on Monday. The American won 6-3, 6-3 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium to progress to the second round of the year's final Grand Slam.
Williams, four weeks shy of her 41st birthday, has now won 107 matches in New York, with 102 of them taking place at Arthur Ashe Stadium and nearly half of them at night.
Following the win, Billie Jean King came out onto the court to pay tribute to the 23-time Major winner, who announced last month that she would be retiring from the sport following the conclusion of the US Open.
The 78-year-old former World No. 1, who said she was clad in pink as it was Williams' favorite color, recalled her first memory of meeting Williams.
"We first met in April of 1988, when she was six years old and her sister was seven years old at a tennis clinic where we had 1200 kids in Long Beach, California. I'll never forget that day. Here are these two kids that come out, so we have them hit and then I had Serena hit. And then I said, can you serve? She says ‘Yeah, I can serve.’ I said ‘can I see it, please? Can we all see it?’ And mama Oracene [Price] was there. Anyway, Serena serves and I told her don't change a thing. And we saw that tonight. Her serve is by far the most beautiful serve ever in the history of our sport" she said.
King then praised Serena Williams for all her achievements, both on and off the court.
"You are fearless, I love it and you hate the lose, it is great. You've touched our hearts and minds to be our authentic selves, to use our voices to dream big. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, especially for women and women of color. Most of all, thank you for sharing your journey with every single one of us. We love you. God bless you. And guess what? You're just beginning!" she stated.
“You are fearless. … Thank you for sharing your journey with every single one of us.” @BillieJeanKing to @serenawilliams
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Serena Williams faces Anett Kontaveit in 2022 US Open 2nd round
Following her win over Danka Kovinic, Serena Williams set up an exciting clash with second seed and World No. 2 Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday. Kontaveit won her opening-round clash against Jaqueline Cristian 6-3, 6-0 to progress to the second round.
If Williams gets past the Estonian, she will face either Ajla Tomljanovic or Evgeniya Rodina in the third round, with a possible fourth-round clash with last year's runner-up Leylah Fernandez coming right after.