The swansong is on hold
When Williams made the short walk to the practice courts for a half-hour hitting session, people packing the bleachers above the practice area greeted her with shrieks of ‘‘Serenaaaaa!’’ on her way in, and again yelled on her way out, receiving a wave of her racket as acknowledgment before Williams strode, lips pursed, back into the stadium.
She means a lot to a lot of people. As a tennis player. As a woman. As an African American. As a mother. As a businesswoman.
‘‘When she started out, female athletes weren’t getting recognized. She’s done so much,’’ said Quintella Thorn, a 68-yearold from Columbus, Georgia, making her eighth trip to the US Open. ‘‘And now, she’s ...’’ ‘‘Evolving,’’ chimed in Thorn’s friend, Cora Monroe, 72, of Shreveport, Louisiana, which she noted is where Richard Williams – the father of Serena and sister Venus, and the central figure in the Oscar-winning film King Richard – is from, too.
That word, ‘‘evolving,’’ is the one Williams said she preferred to the more commonly used ‘‘retirement’’ when she wrote in an essay for Vogue released about three weeks ago that she was ready to concentrate on having a second child and her venture capital firm.
Her daughter, Olympia, who
turns 5 this week, wore white beads in her hair while sitting with her father and grandmother in the stands.
‘‘Once Serena announced she would play the US Open, we sold out in a nanosecond for Monday night and Tuesday night. You can see on the secondary market, the get-in price is $230. I saw $5,800 for a courtside seat this evening. Look, this is a historic moment for the Williams family, for
Serena and our sport,’’ said Stacey Allaster, the tournament director of the American Grand Slam event. ‘‘It is so difficult to really capture what Serena and Venus have done for the sport of tennis. They have transformed our sport. They’ve made us more inclusive. And they’ve transcended sports.’’