Serena Williams is made of a different paste. She is an almost mythological animal, a figure that emerges from the depths when the public requires it and when the occasion becomes special. He is already in the third round under the lights of the Arthur Ashe, filling himself with motivation and finding the winning shots and an absolutely winning service in a match in which he started roaring, in which he dosed his energies in the second set and in which we she dropped a vintage decider, finding the angles, moving like a gazelle and ending up physically and mentally “killing” the number two seed in the draw. Anett Kontaveit could not with the American, who walks towards the third round of the US Open 2022. Serena Williams came out on the court roaring. Like a lioness. Like the queen that she is, motivated by the fervor of Arthur Ashe and by the confidence that the victory gave her in the first round. Her start to the duel was much better than her debut… but, in turn, the rival who showed up at the event was also close to the level she showed back in 2021. Anett Kontaveit did not want to be a mere troupe in the possible last appearance of such a champion: the Estonian began to loosen up there by the equator of the first set, knowing that she had nothing to lose and after getting used to the idea of the environment she would have to endure. Thus, the first set became an all-out war with a clear objective for both players: to dominate the baseline. Whoever shot first, whoever dominated with the right hand right after the serve, would be the one who would take the advantage on the scoreboard. And both got it throughout the first set, although it was Serena who hit the first acceleration. Of course, the pressure and her nerves caused a logical acceleration in a match of this size: Serena got stuck, Kontaveit broke her serve … and we headed for a tie-break. A tie-break that could not end in any other way than with the absolute eruption of a delivered Arthur Ashe. Serena unleashed her right hand in spectacular fashion, recalling the tennis player who dominated the circuit with an iron fist. She gave a lacking confidence Kontaveit no respite in the important moments, and it all led to an explosion of jubilation from Central, who saw their champion just a set from the third round. KONTAVEIT RELEASES MOORINGS AND SERENA LOSES RHYTHM In the second set came the competitive and natural adrenaline slump for a tennis player who has only played 5 matches in this 2022. The first set, especially the tie-break, squeezed a Serena who had a significant drop in energy at the start of the second set. Dosing seemed key to her physique… but it wreaked havoc at the beginning of the partial: the Estonian submitted her, found the parallels with much more clarity and placed a double break up. Totally different scenario for a Center-back that now did not make so much noise, that saw how Anett was now the one who dictated with her service (Serena added 100% of points won with the first serve in the first set; in the second it was the Estonian player who traced that percentage), he approached double digits with the winners and did everything possible to reach a deciding set. Third set, of course, which we were going to have. SERENA UNCOVERS THE JAR OF ESSENCES And in the third set there was a player who decided to put the sixth gear. She decided to take the champion race out of her. She decided to leave behind any kind of ties and sign another performance for history. Kontaveit tried at the beginning of the third set, but each difficult situation was solved with a great first serve. The most dominant blow of the youngest of the Williams re-emerged in the most important moment of the match, leaving Arthur Ashe breathless. Serena was levitating: signing long-range volleys, defenses with an unprecedented mobility for someone over 40 years old, direct backhand returns that smelled like 2012. And it was precisely with one of those winning returns that Serena closed the third set, beating a Kontaveit that ended up dwarfed, without decision and courage in the difficult moments of the third set, without the ability to react to the happy roar of Serena and Arthur Ashe. Williams continues to dream, with Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round and becoming the first woman in history to beat a top-3 at 40 years old. Because there is no age to stop making history, and Serena Williams knows that well.