RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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NEW YORK — At 12:13 a.m. ET Monday morning, a matchup of former Grand Slam champions who are now wild-card entrants set the record for the latest start to a match at the U.S. Open .
When it was over, at 2:01 a.m., Sofia Kenin had beaten Venus Williams 6-2, 7-6(6), as a match that turned into the latest first-round finish in tournament history threatened to unfurl into a vintage comeback. Williams had seven set points in the second set, three in a row on Kenin’s serve and four in a row in the tiebreak, but could not convert.
It was Williams’ 96th main-draw appearance at a major tournament, and she made yet more — likely unwanted — tennis history by besting Aryna Sabalenka and Ekaterina Alexandrova’s 12:07 a.m. start in 2024.
After waiting until nearly the end of Novak Djokovic and Mariano Navone’s five-set match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Williams and Kenin had walked over to Louis Armstrong Stadium. It was unoccupied after Alexander Bublik had beaten American J.J. Wolf in another late-night bout caused by rain and a roof failure.
But Kenin and Williams hadn’t yet warmed up by the time Navone knocked out Djokovic. When he did, they were given the choice between Armstrong and Ashe.
They chose Ashe.
The relatively sparse crowd could not initially create an atmosphere worthy of a seven-time Grand Slam champion, hearty though the fans were, but Williams walked out onto the court seeming regal as ever. She wore a pleated poncho adorned with the words “Queen Vee” over a white outfit and waved, once again taking in Arthur Ashe Stadium at night.
She had a steep climb ahead. Aside from the incredibly late start, Williams arrived at the U.S. Open amid a 14-match losing streak. She hadn’t won a match at the tournament since 2019. Her last victory at any Grand Slam was at Wimbledon, over Ons Jabeur, in 2021.
Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, had also struggled to find her game and entered Monday’s match with a 6-20 singles record this year. Returning and movement are two key vulnerabilities in her game, but she broke Williams straight away for a 3-0 lead that set the tone for the majority of the match.
Then, late in the second set, the crowd conjured every ounce of atmosphere it could, as Williams capitalized on some weak serving from Kenin and raised her level enough to earn three set points. She couldn’t clinch any of them, but staring down break points at 5-5, she dug deep into her reserves and started cracking serves for a big hold. Kenin got Williams on the move to force a tiebreak at 6-6. There, Williams took a 6-2 lead on a series of forehand errors from Kenin to earn four more set points.
But Kenin again locked in, nailing a backhand return winner and rattled off four straight points. At 6-6, Williams double faulted then sent a backhand into the net to give Kenin match point.
Venus will now play doubles here with her sister Serena , who did not take a wild card into the singles event like she did at Wimbledon earlier this summer, meaning their pairing will be treated as a main event — and perhaps not be scheduled as the final match of the day. The sisters united at the Cincinnati Open, played just before the U.S. Open, and rallied to nearly pull off a comeback against singles players Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.
For a time, in that third-set tiebreak two weeks ago, the Williamses turned back the clock and delighted the crowd with their singular combination of power, grace, timing and on-court chemistry.
Playing doubles in New York will give them at least one more chance to remind people of all they gave the sport, on a fitting anniversary no less. This marks 25 years since they met in the singles final in a landmark U.S. Open — the first aired in U.S. primetime and the first of nine times the sisters met in the final of a Grand Slam. Ever the trailblazer, Venus won.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic .
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