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Serena Williams officially made her 2025 US Open debut as a fan.
The former professional tennis player arrived at the famed tournament on August 31 to watch from the stands in an all-denim ensemble and circular-framed sunglasses.
Williams' appearance in Flushing, Queens, marked her return to the event since playing at the 2022 US Open, the final tournament of her 27-year tennis career, against Ajla Tomljanovic.
At Saturday's event, Williams watched from a suite as Jannik Sinner, the top player in the men's division, beat Christopher O'Connell. Meanwhile, on Sept. 1, the legendary athlete was spotted again, this time inside the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for Grigor Dimitrov's match against Andrey Rublev.
Upon her arrival on August 31, Williams was greeted by tournament director Stacey Allaster. The two were photographed together and seen around the stadium.
Additionally, the mother of two met up with Iga Swiatek, the current world number one, ahead of her match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Swiatek was reportedly glad to have spoken to Williams before her match and commented on how sweet it was of her to come to watch the tournament.
“It was really nice to see her. She has a lot of positive energy. It’s nice that she came to the venue and was chatting with the players,” Swiatek said, according to WTATennis.com. “Because for me, I still felt, even though we met before and during [a] We've been on the same band and touring together for a couple of years now. To me, she's still a star.
“It was nice that she reached out to me because I wouldn’t have the courage to do it if it was the other way around,” she continued. “I’m happy that she’s following tennis and my game because she told me that she’s cheering me on. It’s always nice to hear that from someone like Serena.”
Williams officially retired in 2022 after facing Tomljanović in the third round of the US Open women's singles. In an interview with Bradley Cooper for History talksSpeaking on the History Channel, Williams discussed her decision to end her tennis career after the US Open.
“I always said I wanted to stop when I was playing really good tennis and winning and beating good players,” she told the actor, according to Vanity Fair“For me, it’s really about things I want to do spiritually and spending time with my daughter and my family.
“As a very involved mother, I can’t tell you how difficult it was. I lost a lot of matches after having Olympia because it was so hard to be on the court,” she continued. “I feel like I’ve given so much of my life to tennis, my whole life, that it’s time to do something different for myself and work on other things as well.”
The six-time women's singles champion gave birth to her second daughter, Adira Rivera, with husband Alexis Ohanian on August 22, 2023. The couple welcomed their first child, Alexis Jr., in September 2017.
