Serena Williams wins first match in straight sets

The GIST: The first round action of tennis’ final 2022 Grand Slam brought a handful of stunning eliminations — including men’s world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas and women’s defending champ Emma Raducanu — but all eyes are on one player who’s still in contention: Serena, of course.

Monday’s first round: Despite early struggles with her typically dominant serve, Serena met the moment (as per usual), defeating Danka Kovinić in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) to keep her (likely final) major title quest alive.

• With the star-studded crowd behind her, Serena’s confidence only grew as the match continued. And that aforementioned awe-inspiring serve? It eventually reappeared as she registered nine aces in the victory. A thing of beauty.

Tonight’s second round: Now, she faces a much tougher test in world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Kontaveit rattled off a statement straight sets win of her own on Monday, ousting Jaqueline Cristian (6-3, 6-0), but the Estonian’s struggled of late. She’s only won back-to-back matches three times since February.

• For her part, Kontaveit’s embracing the spotlight. As she said on Monday, “I was really rooting for [Serena] to win today. I’ve never played against her. I mean, this is the last chance. Better late than never.”

• And Serena? “At this point, honestly, everything is a bonus for me,” the legend said after her victory. “I think it’s good for me just to live in the moment now.” We’ll be soaking up every second of it.