There is nothing quite like the US Open experience. No other event provides fans with the large doses of daily drama and unparalleled excitement that annually define the Flushing fortnight. In this series, we offer some first-hand takes on those things that make the US Open experience so special.
I heard Serena Williams before I saw her.
Two hours before play was scheduled to begin one morning during the 2013 US Open, I entered the gates of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and—as was my custom—headed straight to the practice area. As five courts of players warmed up for their matches, I sat down on the bleachers to familiarize myself with that day’s schedule of play and plan my court-hopping strategy accordingly.
Then I heard something that got my attention.
Above the squeak of sneakers and routine thwack of the ball coming from players coolly honing strokes at half- or three-quarters pace, then-No. 1 Williams was all business farthest from the fans who were already clustered several deep along the fence. With then-practice partner Sascha Bajin serving, she stepped in to rip return after return on the rise, her trademark grunt punctuating each shot.
I put down my draw sheet to investigate, heading for a view that was arguably better—just behind the baseline, though largely obscured by windscreens. A number of others were already gathered at a gap in the fencing, and all of us watched in respectful silence as Bajin encouraged Williams to keep attacking. Williams responded by reminding Bajin that she expected his game to keep improving right alongside hers.
That fortnight, Williams maintained her intensity while racing untested until the three-set final, when she captured her 17th Grand Slam singles championship by defeating No. 2 seed Victoria Azarenka in the longest US Open women’s singles final in 30 years. By the close of the 2013 season, Williams would add titles at Beijing and the WTA Championships at Istanbul and win 32 of 34 matches against Top 5 players.
A decade later, Williams’s presence at the US Open is felt, even though she has been unable to compete since tearing a hamstring in the first round of Wimbledon in June.
Early in her career, Wiliams said she didn’t expect to play in her 30s. In a media conference leading up to the WTA Championships in 2013, she didn’t rule out competing into her 40s. Nor would anyone bet against it, since the 39-year-old—who turns 40 on September 26th—is bidding to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
Yet this week, her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, said, “Nothing is decided. Everything is open.”
“I don’t know if she’s done, or if she wants to do one more year or two more years or whatever,” Mouratoglou added. “I have no idea. So we’re gonna probably after the tournament sit down and talk about it.”
Clearly, Williams has nothing left to prove at the US Open, where she already owns six singles, two doubles, and one mixed doubles title. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
Indeed, her legacy is just as firmly cemented in the minds and hearts of her fans as it is in the record books.
