Looking back at Serena Williams’ second appearance in the U.S. Open in 1999, it was apparent the game was about to change in a way tennis had never experienced.
It’s been said that stars can’t be seen in the light, but that rule didn’t apply to Williams. In fact, under the bright lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, everyone watched a star being born: a seventh seed defeating four former champions in succession to capture her first Grand Slam title in 1999. The 17-year-old Williams already owned a 1999 French Open doubles title with her sister Venus and 1998 mixed doubles championships at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open with Max Mirnyi, but this one — her first singles title — meant the most.
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With one hand on each handle of the U.S. Open trophy, Serena hoisted the hardware above her head, and a smile stretched from ear to ear. She’d done it.
“There’s my name right there,” she said with elation to The Associated Press. “I didn’t know what to do — laugh or cry or just scream — so I think I did it all.”
That was 23 years ago. A week ago today, Serena lost to Ajla Tomljanović in what was perceived to be Serena’s final tennis match. It ended a career that included 858 singles victories and 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
Serena became the first Black woman to win a singles championship in the 31-year history of the U.S. Open era. She also joined Althea Gibson as only the second African-American woman to win a Grand Slam. Additionally, Serena and Venus took home the U.S. Open doubles title in 1999, further highlighting their impending takeover.
Serena not only joined Gibson, but also Ashe, the first winner of the U.S. Open in 1968, and Frenchman Yannick Noah, a 1983 French Open champion, as the lone Black players to win a Grand Slam singles tournament to that point.
Some observers could see Serena’s unprecedented level of domination in the years to come.
“In winning her first major title and a $750,000 check, Williams showed the kind of athleticism, court sense and resilience under pressure that could make her a champion for years to come,” The Associated Press wrote on Sept. 12, 1999.
Last month, Serena announced, through an as-told-to interview with Vogue, that she would be retiring from tennis after she played in the U.S. Open. In some ways, it’s almost a perfect career as she concluded her play at the site where she won her first title 23 years ago.But how that historic 1999 run that set Serena up for an unmatched and decorated career is a story in itself.
Serena survived a gauntlet to meet No. 1 Martina Hingis on center court for the final. After cruising through the first two rounds without dropping a set against Kimberly Po and Jelena Kostanić, Serena duked it out with Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martínez, Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport, the reigning U.S. Open champion. All four matches were three-set contests and Serena dropped the opening set against the first three competitors she faced. In all, she beat three of the top four women on the tour during her march to her first Grand Slam singles title.
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Ironically, Serena’s third-round match against Clijsters — a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 decision — proved to be the most daunting of the seven players she faced, as the Belgian pushed the eventual champion to extreme limits. Clijsters, then 16, used speed and enthusiasm to make Serena work, but the Compton, Calif., native responded with power, scorching aces and groundstrokes to keep her younger opponent on her heels. Clijsters appeared to have Serena figured out in the third set, building a 5-3 advantage.
But Serena was relentless and showed a composure displayed by champions during intense moments. She never faced a match point once Clijsters took that lead. Serena prevailed, and playing a challenging match of that caliber so early into the tournament gave her an understanding of what it would take to etch her name into the record books.
“I saw (Clijsters) play at Wimbledon,” Serena told the Los Angeles Times on Sept. 5, 1999. “She played Steffi Graf. I’m glad I watched that match. I knew she was a tough player. She’s young and doing her best. She’s pretty big.”
Said Belgian Sabine Appelmans of Serena while watching the match: “I knew she could play this way. In practice, I’ve seen it. Oh, my.”
By the time Serena met Hingis in the final, the tournament matches prior had steeled her. Beyond that, Serena watched Venus lose a straight-set match against Hingis in the 1997 U.S. Open title match, then a hard-fought semifinal at that year’s U.S. Open, so she had a good understanding of what to expect and flipped the script on the champion.
It was Serena who looked like the veteran during the pivotal moments, as she made the kind of baseline rallies and net play expected of someone who had been there — and not someone only in the second year of her professional career on the Grand Slam circuit.
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Serena had spots when she faltered; she owned a 5-3 lead in the second set but allowed Hingis to fight back and force a tiebreaker. But in the tiebreaker, Serena delivered ace after ace — she finished the tournament with 62 total, 40 more than the next closest player — and kept Hingis on the defensive for the remainder of the match.
“Those serves were, like, smacking,” Hingis told The Associated Press.
That year, Serena was a perfect 6-0 in tiebreakers, but she had no interest in getting into a long one with Hingis if she could avoid it. She had blown a match point and a chance to serve out the match at 5-4, so she had a moment where she checked herself before finally closing out the contest.
During the match, the pair exchanged a war of words as things heated up, but once it was over, they came to center court, shook hands and hugged.
“I actually was saying to myself, ‘What was I doing here?'” Serena said of her thought process in that moment. “I totally had her, but she would not give up. It’s great that she was my opponent today; not anyone that was bitter.”
Serena ultimately won six U.S. Open titles. She beat her sister in the final in 2002, then won again in 2008 against Jelena Janković. Serena beat Victoria Azarenka to win the 2012 and 2013 championships, then beat Caroline Wozniacki in 2014.
(Photo of Martina Hingis and Serena Williams: Jamie Squire /Allsport)
