Serena’s opponent, Kovinic, ‘honoured’ to face her at US Open

Someone, of course, will end up in the history books as the last opponent of Serena Williams’ stellar career. It could be Danka Kovinic, a 27-year-old from Montenegro who is “honoured” to be the first-round US Open foe of someone she remembers watching on TV as a child.

Their match – scheduled for Arthur Ashe Stadium at 7pm on Monday night, Day 1 of the grand slam tournament that Williams has indicated will mark her farewell – is the first time the two women have shared a court.

Kovinic’s reaction when she heard about the match-up from her coach: “I was happy; I won’t lie.”

“It’s a privilege to share the court with Serena,” Kovinic said in an interview at Flushing Meadows on Friday. “I just really hope that I can show my good game. Maybe my best game.”

They’ve crossed paths in tour locker rooms over the years, but Kovinic said she never got up the nerve to request a joint practice session.

“I was like, ‘OK, that’s Serena and I am Danka,’” said the 80th-ranked Kovinic, whose best grand slam results were reaching the third round at the Australian Open in January and French Open in May before losing at each to a major champion (Iga Swiatek in Melbourne; Simona Halep in Paris). “I didn’t feel like I could approach her to ask.”

Other topics are, or will be, of interest over the coming two weeks, from renewed questions about whether it makes sense for women to use slightly different tennis balls than the men do at Flushing Meadows – this is the only grand slam tournament that does that – to Novak Djokovic’s absence due to being unvaccinated against Covid-19, to Rafael Nadal’s pursuit of a 23rd major title despite a recent recovery from a torn abdominal muscle, to Emma Raducanu’s return to the site of her out-of-nowhere run from qualifier to Slam champion a year ago in New York.