Serena Williams returned to the U.S. Open without a racket.
The six-time U.S. Open women's singles champion returns to Flushing Meadows on Saturday night for the first time since playing the final tournament of her legendary career there in 2022. I watched Grigor Dimitrov play. He will face Andrey Rublev on Sunday.
In 2022, she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round and stepped away from the competitive side of the sport, carefully avoiding the word retirement.
Despite wearing sunglasses, Williams was not entirely self-identified on Saturday as she was greeted outside by tournament director Stacey Allaster for photographs and then wandered around the venue to watch various matches.
However, one of her close friends did not notice her.
“I'll text her,” former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki said with a laugh after her victory to reach the fourth round. “I'm pretty upset that she didn't come to my match. … I guess we'll have to talk a little bit about that later.”
Williams, 42, was sitting in a suite at Arthur Ashe Stadium while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner beat Christopher O'Connell in straight sets in the men's singles title.
Iga Swiatek, who holds the world No. 1 ranking – a position the 23-time Grand Slam champion has held at various times throughout her career – spoke with Williams before the match.
She then advanced to the fourth round.
“It was really nice to meet her,” Swiatek said. According to WTAtennis.com:“She has such positive energy and it was great to have her out there and talking to the players because for me, even though it’s been a while since I last saw her. [a] We've been on the same side and toured together for the last few years, she's still a star to me, and I'm glad she approached me because I wouldn't have had the courage to do it the other way around.
“I'm happy that she watches tennis and my matches because she told me she supports me. It's always nice to hear that from someone like Serena.”
— Information from the Associated Press was used in this report
