Serena Williams revealed she told herself she needed to give her absolute best in the third set versus Anett Kontaveit or otherwise that could be it for her. On Wednesday night in New York, Williams defeated second-seeded Kontaveit 7-6 (4) 2-6 6-2.
In the second set, Williams got broken three times as Kontaveit easily won the set to force a decider. After losing the second set, Williams took an early 2-0 lead in the third set. Kontaveit broke back in the third game, but Williams responded with breaks in the fourth and eighth games to complete a three-set win.
“Honestly, after I lost the second set, I said, ‘My goodness, I better give my best effort because this could be it,'” Williams said, per the WTA website. “The last couple matches here in New York it’s really come together.
There’s still a little left in me. We’ll see”.
Williams created a ‘bubble’ for herself
Three weeks ago, Williams announced her plans to retire after the US Open. Since then, Williams has been doing her best to try to solely focus on her tennis.
“I’ve kept my head super low throughout this whole process, ever since the news came out three weeks ago,” she told reporters Monday. “I’m really good at putting myself in a bubble. That’s kind of what I’ve been doing.
Sometimes I’ll hear a snippet of this, a snippet of that. But for me, in order to get through it, because it’s not easy, but to just get through the emotions and everything that I’m feeling, I just had to just kind of just go in and just be sort of alone and just off all kinds of media, social media and stuff. Yeah, I’m just trying to deal with that”. In the US Open third round, Williams plays Ajla Tomljanovic.
