Serena Williams begins the US Open with a resounding victory in the individual branch

Serena Williams' best moments as a tennis player 1:08

(CNN) --

Serena Williams, in what will likely be the last tennis tournament of her storied career, opened singles competition with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Danka Kovinić in the first round of the US Open at the Arthur Ash Stadium.

Williams will begin her doubles participation with her sister Venus on Wednesday.

Serena Williams in her first match of the US Open 2022.

On the same Wednesday, Williams will face World No.2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the singles round of 16.

It will be the first time they meet.

• Serena Williams hints at her retirement after the US Open: "My God, I like tennis. But now the countdown has begun"

After early problems with her serve on Monday night, Williams won 10 of the last 13 games against Kovinić, a 27-year-old Montenegrin who is ranked 80th in the world.

After the match, during a ceremony to celebrate her tennis career, Williams said she got a boost from the crowd of nearly 24,000.

"The crowd was crazy," she said.

Williams double-faulted twice in the first game, but eventually increased her first serve percentage to 66%.

He won 33 of 43 first serve points from him.

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A key moment came in the sixth game of the first set when Kovinić appeared on the brink of a 4-2 lead.

But a Williams shot that seemed long and wide was not.

It was the first of 11 straight points for Williams.

This was Williams' third match since announcing that she will "evolve away from tennis".

Serena Williams: controversies inside the court 2:22

"I've never liked the word retirement. It doesn't seem like a modern word to me. I've been thinking about this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people," Williams said in a Vogue article published earlier this month.

"Maybe the best word to describe what I'm doing is evolution. I'm here to tell you that I'm moving away from tennis, towards other things that are important to me," he said.

In his post-match press conference, he was asked if this is definitely his last tournament.

"Yeah, I've been pretty vague about that, haven't I?" she said with a smile.

"I'm going to continue to be vague because you never know."

But earlier on the court, the 40-year-old Williams said it was a tough decision to move forward.

"I think when you're passionate about something and you love it so much, it's always hard to walk away," he said.

"Sometimes I think it's harder to walk away than not to walk away. That's been my case."

When asked by Gayle King what earning would be like for her in the future, Williams pointed to her venture capital firm and also said she wants to work on her spiritual life.

Williams' singles victory was witnessed by her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their daughter, Olympia, with the youngster wearing white beads in her hair, reminiscent of Williams's appearance when she won the first of her six US Open titles as a youngster. teenager in 1999.

iconic.

pic.twitter.com/NvsxXIjkGB

– US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 30, 2022

"I hope I wake up and say, okay, I don't have to run on the court today," Williams said.

"I hope I'm just a mom. She's such a good girl. I just want to be a good mom to her."

Also on Monday, Ukraine's Daria Snigur, who had to play qualifying matches to enter the tournament, defeated No.7 seed Simona Halep of Romania in straight sets 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.

"This game (is) for Ukraine, for my family, for all the fans who supported me. I want to thank all of them," Snigur said emotionally.

It was Snigur's first Grand Slam match at this level.

She won the Wimbledon women's singles title in 2019.

CNN's Jill Martin contributed to this report.

Serena Williams