Array
Win or lose Monday night, Serena Williams will be feted by the USTA in an elaborate farewell ceremony after her first-round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, according to a source.
The festivities, featuring videos and the like, will feel a lot more joyous if Williams wins.
It’s finally showtime for Serena, who faces 80th-ranked Danka Kovinic in potentially her final singles match at 7 p.m. before a sell-out crowd of 23,800.
The 40-year-old Compton legend, according to a source, will have some 100 guests on hand — family and friends — besides thousands of her frenzied fans. The USTA is truncating its usual opening-night ceremony to lavish praise on Serena after her match.
“Kovinic is better on clay,’’ ESPN’s analyst Pam Shriver told The Post. “She hasn’t won a match since the French. Anything can happen but it’s pretty good first-round draw for Serena.
“But there’ll be so much emotion, energy and buildup. You [don’t] know how either will deal with it. Serena has been great on big stages in the past, but this is different. All eyes are on the first few games.”
Soon after the women’s U.S. Open draw was released Thursday, there came this post on Instagram:
“WHAT A MOMENT.
