Williams is 37 years old. Twenty years ago, she helped inaugurate Ashe, reaching the first women's final played in the venue. On Monday, she celebrated that anniversary with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over Kuzmova. Williams then told the fans in the stadium, "It's been a beautiful 20 years. I love this game."Williams isn't any more ready to yield to them than she was a decade ago. Nineteen-year-old Viktoria Kuzmova learned that Monday in their first-round US Open clash in
Arthur Ashe Stadium.
A person would have to love tennis in order to avoid burning out after the kind of career Williams has had. Burn out? Williams began the day as one of eight women with a chance to emerge from this tournament with the WTA's No. 1 ranking. Her chances improved when Johanna Konta lost Monday, whittling the list down to seven.
But Williams, like those other veteran warriors Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, isn't falling for the siren song of ranking. Over time, the residue of experience in these players has been narrowing many goals down to a simple one: Stay healthy, pick your spots and savor every particle of winning.
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