She’s likely the best female tennis player that has ever been, and she may be one of the top ten athletes both female and male.
Serena Williams is 40 years old and just advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open.
In the second round, Serena defeated Estonian player Anett Kontaveit. The match was full of intensity with Williams winning the first set and Kontaveit taking the second.
In the 3rd and final set, Williams took the early lead and was able to beat Kontaveit, 26, with a final score of 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2.
Kontaveit was the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
In the first round of the U.S. Open, Williams was able to win against Danka Kovinic on Monday.
Following both matches, Serena was honored for being the GOAT, the greatest of all time in the sport. There was a special video played that was narrated by Oprah Winfrey.
Serena has talked about the fact that she doesn’t like the word “retirement.” She said she will be evolving away from tennis following this year’s U.S. Open.
“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me,” Williams wrote in a Vogue essay. She also said, “…Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”
This week after her 2nd round win, Williams said that she is taking her time stepping back from the sport.
“It’s no rush here, I’m loving this crowd,” she said. “There’s still a little left in me. We’ll see.”
When she was asked how she was able to beat the number 2 ranked player in the world, she said that she is still “a pretty good player. This is what I do best.”
When she was asked if she was surprised with the win, she laughed and said, “I’m just Serena, you know. Honestly, I’m just looking at it as a bonus, I don’t have anything to prove, I don’t have anything to win,” she said as the crowd cheered. “And I have absolutely nothing to lose.”
Watch:
