The tennis queen is QUEENING! Serena Williams has advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open after defeating No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit in the U.S. Open’s second round. Several celebs were in attendance to cheer her on, including Dionne Warwick who was mistaken for Gladys Knight. Celebrate the tennis queen inside…
Serena Williams is making a magical run at the U.S. Open, which is likely her final grand slam tournament of her career after announcing she was retiring – or as she likes to call it – evolving. And it’s bittersweet!
Not done.#USOpen | @serenawilliams pic.twitter.com/9RND6qp7WA
— ESPN (@espn) September 1, 2022
The 23-time Grand Slam winner had everyone on their feet celebrating after clinching another win at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York during the second round of the U.S. Open.
This placement from Serena
The crowd was loving it! #USOpen pic.twitter.com/280FPmMm0b
— ESPN (@espn) August 31, 2022
The 40-year-old tennis goat defeated No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2. The tennis “experts” predicted this match would be her last, so she had to prove them wrong.
During the match, Serena showed great sportsmanship, calming the crowd down from booing her opponent.
Serena Williams gestured the entire crowd to calm down for being unsportsmanlike before Anett Kontaveit’s serve.
Class act! #SerenaWilliams #USOpen pic.twitter.com/NQswhVTaLE
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 1, 2022
The crowd was super energized and LIT cheering her on:
Serena Williams has the crowd fired up pic.twitter.com/YA1xBkGLRW
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) September 1, 2022
After her marvelous win, Serena was asked if she was surprised with her performance and she answered it in epic fashion.
After laughing at the question, she confidently answered, “I’m just Serena.” And everyone ate it UP! Peep the clip below:
“Are you surprising yourself with your level?”
Serena Williams: “I mean .. I’m just #Serena .” #USOpen pic.twitter.com/iJ2cUDMx5t
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 1, 2022
PERIOD.
In the audience, several celebrities were in attendance including Zendaya (who turns 26 today), Spike Lee, LaLa Anthony, Anthony Anderson, Bella Hadid and more, as well as Serena’s husband/Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
Zendaya at the @usopen: pic.twitter.com/HLq1E5aDr3
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 31, 2022
The king of New York sports: Spike Lee pic.twitter.com/LthrKVbl9i
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2022
The GOAT n Anthony Anderson pic.twitter.com/FMILherotv
— #1 NaNa (@davis855803) September 1, 2022
U.S. Open announcers were trending during the match after they mistook singer Dionne Warwick for singer Gladys Knight, who was also in attendance.
Dear Wypipo,
Black people don’t all look alike.
Dionne Warwick is not Gladys Knight.
Samuel L Jackson is not Laurence Fishburne.
Ray Ray is not Pookie.
All Black men don’t “fit the description” pic.twitter.com/HRiqqnqX8d
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) September 1, 2022
Hey @espn , this is why you need black commentators!! That’s Dionne Warwick, NOT Gladys Knight!! Y’all should be ashamed. #USOpen #Serena https://t.co/94cUthxYMC
— Colleen •WearAMask• Barry (@Cbeary1608) September 1, 2022
The uber funny Dionne Warwick took to IG to react to the mixup, sharing a throwback picture of Gladys Knight:
L-O-L. Undefeated.
TV announcer/former tennis star Chanda Rubin hopped on Twitter to explain the mixup:
Too bad I was initially looking at the court (where Auntie Gladys was in the stands) and not our program monitor that showed Ms. Dionne… mistake was immediately corrected.
— Chanda Rubin (@Chanda_Rubin) September 1, 2022
”Too bad I was initially looking at the court (where Auntie Gladys was in the stands) and not our program monitor that showed Ms. Dionne… mistake was immediately corrected,” she tweeted.
Speaking of mixups…
During Round 1 of the U.S. Open, TV announcers confused “Orange Is The New Black” star Laverne Cox for Beyonce.
#Beyoncé at the #USOpen pic.twitter.com/rcaY8kdgR5
— Choni -Chonstradums-Jamal (@Choni_) August 29, 2022
Laverne took to Twitter to react:
Girl it was me. Lol https://t.co/fbBsu8JjTu
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) August 30, 2022
”Girl it was me,” Laverne said to a Twitter user who was confused whether or not it was really Bey in the stands. Womp.
Also in the stands…
Happy 5th birthday to the youngest Slam champion Olympia Ohanian Williams! @OlympiaOhanian pic.twitter.com/8bOntwvGG1
— Serena’s snatched wig (@Danidilo2) September 1, 2022
Serena’s daughter Olympia – who turns five today – was dressed like her mom, cheering her on, looking adorable as ever.
Serena goating for the memories of Olympia perhaps even more than for the rest of the world pic.twitter.com/jXjvaJGi3e
— lily11 Rest well warrior! (@lily11_2022) September 1, 2022
Adorbs.
Tonight, Serena – who currently covers TIME magazine – will hit the court alongside her sister Venus Williams for a doubles match against Czech duo Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova. The Williams Sisters have won 14 doubles titles during their illustrious tennis careers.
Tomorrow, Serena Williams, a six-time singles champion at Flushing Meadows, will face Ajla Tomljanović, 29-year-old Australian who is ranked 46th. We’ll be watching! Keep it locked to our Instagram account (@theybf_daily) for live coverage.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Serena earns historic Grand Slam #24!
BONUS:
Dionne Warwick checked gospel singer Earnest Pugh after Serena’s match, following a statement he made about her aunt, Cissy Houston, mother of late singer Whitney Houston. He shared a tweet that said Cissy had passed away and folks instantly believed him, which caused an uproar online.
“My Aunt Cissy is very much alive,” the 81-year-old icon tweeted, shooting down the rumors that Cissy passed away. “This Earnest Pugh needs to get a life and stay out of other people’s lives.”
Bloop!
The gospel singer returned to Twitter to apologize, sharing he didn’t mean any harm and that his tweet was a “knee-jerk” reaction:
— Earnest Pugh (@earnestpugh) September 1, 2022
Glad that’s cleared up.
Photo: zhukovsky/Depositphotos
