The early claps came after just two points and a couple of unforced errors. They were heartfelt cheers from the Arthur Ashe crowd, meant to spur Venus Williams into action.

This reaction hinted that spectators already sensed this first-round match against 11th seed Karolina Muchova might turn into a tough night for the 45-year-old, now ranked 602 worldwide.

Those fears seemed justified. After two intense hours under the night lights, Williams bid farewell to the US Open for another year; possibly forever. However, before she left, the two-time champion put up a fierce fight against Muchova and against the passage of time. Muchova humorously admitted, ‘I was stressed,’ afterward.

Ultimately, Williams fell 6-3 2-6 6-1 to the world No. 13, who has made consecutive semifinals in New York. Yet, Muchova wavered occasionally, especially in the second set when Williams tied the game and nearly added another remarkable chapter to her career.

It was not to be. But on Monday night, no one lost. Not really. Certainly not those inside Arthur Ashe who had feared the worst.

Before entering the court, Williams had described her 25th US Open campaign as a ‘celebration’ and rightfully so. Few would deny her the chance at this wildcard after the effort she displayed in those three sets.

Among those watching in the Ashe stadium? Maria Sharapova, seven years younger than Venus, already retired long enough to join the Hall of Fame.

And Andrea Preti, Williams’ fiance and cheerleader-in-chief. There have been times during this comeback when she has wanted to ‘coast’ and ‘chill’. But he has dragged her back on track and here, he roared her through every point.

This was Williams’ first match at Flushing Meadows since 2023, when she won just two games and went out with a whimper.

Since then, she has been in the wilderness and on the operating table. She began this match as a 7/1 underdog. For a few minutes, those odds looked generous. But not for long.

The paint had barely dried on this cavernous arena when Williams made her bow in the US Open main draw. That was back in 1997, when she was just 17 and Arthur Ashe Stadium was on debut, too.

Nearly three decades on, this place is showing a few signs of age and Williams is surrounded by reminders about the passing of time.

A few hours before she left the changing rooms on Monday, Brazil’s Joao Fonseca sat in the bowels of Arthur Ashe discussing the prospect of one day playing on this show court.

He is one of tennis’ rising stars and – at 19 – he had just secured a first win here. Alas, Fonseca has a long way to go to emulating Williams’ first US Open.

In 1997, she became the first unseeded player in the Open era to reach the final. Since then? Williams has gone on to win 23 Grand Slam titles – across singles and doubles. Together with her sister, Serena, she has been a trailblazer for female athletes and young black players. Venus has made nearly $43million in prize money, too.

Not much of that has been accrued in recent years, mind. Williams was crowned US Open singles champion in 2000 and 2001. More than a decade ago, however, she revealed she was battling Sjogren’s syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune disease. 

And before accepting this wildcard, she had not won a singles match here since 2019. She hadn’t played at all for 16 months before making a shock return at last month’s DC Open. 

Williams joked that she needed the health insurance. She also became the oldest player to win a tour-level singles match in more than two decades.

But this was just her fourth match all year and the early signs could hardly have been more ominous. Williams began with a couple of unforced errors and then – after the crowd’s first intervention – a double fault. Within a few minutes, she trailed 2-0 and looked ripe for a hiding.

Every point Williams won drew huge cheers. After she sealed a first game, many inside Arthur Ashe rose to their feet.

But then something changed and Williams began to roll back the years. Suddenly she was moving with more vim and a few of those ferocious ground strokes began to find the lines.

Before long, the 45-year-old led 3-2 with a break point to extend her lead. Alas, Muchova shut that door and then wrest back control. The Czech reeled off four straight games to seal the first set.

Williams rallied once more, however, breaking at the start of set two. She started to make more first serves and she refused to cede her advantage. Then, at 4-2, Williams turned the screw – dragging Muchova around the court and moving to within a game of levelling the match. Preti let out a huge roar of ‘Forza!’

He was back on his feet a few minutes later when, at the third attempt, Williams secured the second set. The stage was set for a blockbuster finale. But then Muchova wandered off court and returned reborn.

She raced into a 3-0 lead. Even as defeat hurtled into view, Williams dug out a few final acts of defiance including a 92mph forehand that drew a huge roar from the 45-year-old. 

And then, after Muchova sealed victory, applause rang out around Arthur Ashe once more. This time, there was no pity or pessimism. This time, they were saluting a monumental effort from a legend of this place.