SERENA HARDLY SPARKLES BUT LIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY

FOR Serena Williams, the long goodbye will last a little longer.

- Matt Majendie

The 40-year-old extended her career by at least another match as she delighted a star-studded and packed Arthur Ashe Stadium with a straight-sets victory at the US Open overnight.

She had previously announced on the pages of Vogue that this year's tournament would be her last and, after a stuttering, error-strewn start, she made her way into the second round in New York with relative ease in beating Danka Kovinic 6-3, 6-3.

It means her second-round match late into the New York night tomorrow will take place 24 years to the day since making her US Open debut.

After fairly limp early losses at her previous two tournaments, this first-round match felt every bit like the final farewell.

She was greeted on court by a video narrated by Queen Latifah and arrived dressed head to toe in a diamond-encrusted Nike outfit and trainers with Kanye West's Diamonds from Sierra Leone adding more glitz.

This was far from Wimbledon, where she had declared her return to singles action after a year out from the sport just a matter of weeks before her retirement was announced.