NEW YORK (Reuters) – Serena Williams faces a busy schedule in her farewell at Flushing Meadows as she takes on second seed Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday and brings her sister back to the U.S. Open in doubles action on Thursday.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles winner said she would retire sometime after the tournament and enjoyed a warm welcome with celebrities packed into the stands for her first-round win over Danka Kovinic on Monday at Arthur Stadium Ashe.
However, she is not sailing into the sunset and will compete in doubles with her sister Venus in the year’s major final for the first time since 2014.
“It was Serena’s idea. She’s the boss, so do whatever she tells me to do,” said Venus, 42, who lost her first-round single to the Belgian on Tuesday. Alison Van Uytvanck.
“We had some great wins. It would be nice to add more.”
The two-time US Open doubles champions will face Czech duo Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova. They lost in the quarter-finals of their last doubles draw at the US Open in 2014 but are a clean 14-0 record in the doubles Grand Slam final.
“I feel like it was really important for her to be a part of this. She’s my rock. I’m super excited to play with her and do this again. It’s been a long time,” Serena told reporters .
The 40-year-old hopes to have enough in the tank after another prime-time affair at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday, with second-seeded Estonian Kontaveit among the favorites to go all the way – and end Williams’ farewell party.
The 26-year-old won in St Petersburg and reached the finals in Qatar and Hamburg this year, flattening first-round foe Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 6-3 6-0 on opening night in New York. The pair have never played before.
“I will really enjoy the atmosphere against the greatest player of all time,” Kontaveit told reporters.