In what was supposed to be the final match of her illustrious career, Serena Williams pulled off a massive upset in the second round of the U.S. Open Wednesday night.

By defeating Anett Kontaveit, currently ranked second in the world in women’s singles competition, in three sets, Williams has bought herself at least one more match in a run that could become legendary.

Because of her 23 Grand Slam titles, Williams is not the sort of player many would consider an underdog, but the magnitude of her victory against Kontaveit cannot be understated.

Williams’ last Grand Slam tournament victory came in 2017, and going into her second-round U.S. Open matchup, she had only played in five matches in 2022.

Before the tournament began, Williams announced her retirement on Aug. 9 and said that the U.S. Open would be her last appearance in professional tennis. A loss at any point now will end her career.

Many suspected that it would all come to a close against Kontaveit, with celebrities like Tiger Woods, Spike Lee, Zendaya and many more in attendance likely prepared to send off the greatest player in the history of her sport in style.

Instead, the record crowd of nearly 30,000 at Arthur Ashe Stadium saw a battle from the opening serve, as Williams fought voraciously to seize a competitive first set before coming back to take the third in commanding fashion and win.

The victory stops the clock for now but the road ahead is long. In a 10-round tournament, it’s easy for Williams’ fans to dream of a return to the U.S. Open Finals following her shocking upset win. Her potential run is already drawing comparisons to Woods’ return to glory in the 2019 Masters – and it hasn’t even happened yet. But for the 40-year-old legend, enjoying the moment after the match was what mattered.

“It’s no rush here,” Williams said in an interview after the match. “I’m loving this crowd. Oh my goodness. It’s really fantastic. So there’s a little left in me.”

At another point in her interview, the on-court reporter asked Williams if she was surprised at her performance against Kontaveit, and the improbable winner’s reaction told the story better than any eloquent response. She laughed. Then she replied, ”I’m just Serena.”

Williams’ next match will be against 29-year-old Australian-Croatian player Ajla Tomljanovic on Friday.

Once 50-1 to win the tournament, Williams is now one of the favorites and may not have to face another ranked player until the fifth round.

Former No. 1-ranked Maria Sharapova faced off against Anett Kontaveit, the 16th seed, in the Rogers Cup on Monday.

The round of 64 match was a tight series, with Estonian national Kontaveit just sliding by to advance to the round of 32. Kontaveit rallied from a set down to defeat her Russian opponent 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Rogers Cup.

“I was just trying to take it point by point and not think about the score that much. It worked in the end,” said Kontaveit, according to Firstpost. Kontaveit converted her first point in the match when Sharapova sent a poor service return.

Sharapova is in a bit of a bad spell in form and has slipped into the No. 82 rank after battling a few injuries. She was out four months with a right shoulder injury that needed surgery.

“I’m still building the confidence and my form, and that’s something that’s just going to come with time and with match play,” Sharapova said, according to WTA Tennis. “Unfortunately, I just haven’t had that yet, so will just hopefully try to build on it.”

This was Kontaveit’s first match since losing dramatically in the first round of the women’s Wimbledon tournament last month. The two-hour, 42-minute match on Center Court was a heated fixture, as Kontaveit had to earn her win against Sharapova.

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“It was a super close match, and I really felt the support of the crowd in the third set and in the end,” Kontaveit said after the match, according to WTA Tennis.

Kontaveit will next face either Venus Williams, the seven-time Grand Slam champion, or Spanish international Carla Suarez Navarro. They play their round of 64 match on Tuesday.

“It will be tough either way. I’ve played them both,” Kontaveit said, according to WTA Tennis. “They have very different game styles. We’ll see what happens tomorrow when they’re playing, and I think we can talk about the next match when they’re finished, when they’re finished playing each other.”

Sharapova will be looking to earn her confidence back after struggling in 2019 so far. “There’s never the perfect scenario. I’m going to be coming up against tough players, long matches, and there are always going to be tests,” she said, according to WTA Tennis. “And I always have to play my best tennis no matter who I play, so it will just take time to build that confidence again, because I have struggled with it for a long time.”