Serena Williams joined elite company in the final tournament of her playing career becoming the fourth player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam match in her teens, 20s, 30s and 40s.
Williams joined 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova, former world number four and three-time major semi-finalist Kimiko Date Krumm and six-time major winner and sister Venus Williams in achieving the feat.
The American's 6-3 6-3 win over Danka Kovinic in the US Open first round on Monday comes ahead of her 41st birthday next month, with Williams aged 40 years and 337 days.
The 40-year-old has been lauded for her decorated playing career, highlighted by 23 Grand Slam titles, but none of that is possible without endurability.
Williams's career spans 27 years, having turned professional in 1995 and having first played in a major in 1998 at the Australian Open. She played in that year's US Open too and has won every first-round match at Flushing Meadows in her career (21).
The ceremony and pomp after Monday's win was bigger than ever, with words from Oprah Winfrey and Billie Jean King along with an extended interview conducted by Gayle King with Williams, followed by a crowd display of signs reading "We love Serena".
It all offered a level of finality, despite Williams still being live in the tournament, albeit with a tougher test against second seed Anett Kontaveit to come on Wednesday.
Despite all that Williams, who has steered clear of the word retirement instead using "evolution", teased reporters when she replied to a question about the US Open definitively being her final tournament with a smile: "Yeah, I've been pretty vague about it, right? I'm going to stay vague because you never know."
Ruud doubles up to win Geneva Open
Casper Ruud played twice on Saturday to win the Geneva Open, as he heads into Roland-Garros in fine form.
With his semi-final against Flavio Cobolli having been postponed on Friday due to rain, Ruud returned to the court to seal a 1-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) victory.
The Norwegian was swiftly back in action in Switzerland, taking on Tomas Machac, who stunned Novak Djokovic on Friday, in the final.
And the world number seven made light work of Mahac, winning 7-5 6-3 to become the first three-time champion at the Geneva Open, which he also won in 2021 and 2022.
Data Debrief: Clay court specialist
Ruud has now claimed an 11th ATP event title on clay since the start of the 2020 season.
He is the only player to win 10+ titles over that span on the surface, with Carlos Alcaraz (seven) the next best.
Verstappen crashes as Leclerc takes Monaco pole
Charles Leclerc ensured pole position for this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen could only manage sixth place after crashing into a wall during qualifying.
Leclerc beat Oscar Piastri by 0.154 seconds for his third pole in the last four races in Monaco, where Ferrari have excelled on the narrow track layout, high kerbs and slow-speed corners.
Verstappen was seeking history by surpassing Ayrton Senna for an eighth successive pole in Qualifying, while maintaining his perfect record at the start of the season.
However, the runaway Drivers' Championship leader hit the wall at Sainte Devote on his final lap, and had to settle for sixth on a track where overtaking is regarded as the most difficult on the calendar.
Leclerc now hopes he and Ferrari can now convert their position at the head of the grid into victory, having failed to do so in each of the last two years.
"It was nice. The feeling after a qualifying lap is always very special here," he said. "[I am] really, really happy about the lap, the excitement is so high, but it feels really good.
"But now, I know more often than not, qualifying is not everything. As much as it counts, we need to put everything together on the Sunday. In past years, we did not manage to do it, but we are a stronger team now, and I am sure we can achieve the target."
His Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz was third, though he faces an investigation for impeding Williams' Alex Albon in the first session, ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell.
Lino: Final-day win at Sociedad a big boost for Atletico
Samuel Lino believes Atletico Madrid's final-day victory over Real Sociedad will provide them with a timely boost heading into next season.
Diego Simeone's side ran out 2-0 winners at Reale Arena in their final match of the 2023-24 campaign. Lino opened the scoring after just nine minutes, while Reinildo sealed the points in second-half stoppage time.
However, despite a fourth-place finish in LaLiga, it brought the curtain down on a third successive trophyless season for Atleti, who will finish at least 18 points adrift of champions Real Madrid.
Los Rojiblancos fell to Borussia Dortmund following a 5-4 aggregate defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals, while they were soundly beaten by Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
But Lino, who had his fourth direct goal involvement in three appearances (one goal, three assists), thinks a hard-earned win against their sixth-place opponents - a fourth success in five games - will give him and his team-mates positive momentum to build on next season.
"It was an important victory to finish the season well," he told Movistar Plus. "We were good, focused, played a good game and that's what we wanted.
"Overall, we were not within the club's objectives, but we finished well, and now we have to switch off. A win away from home could help us to come back strong next season."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
