Serena Williams' opponents aren't the only players struggling with her overwhelming crowd support at the US Open

• Serena Williams is attracting massive, record-breaking crowds to the 2022 US Open.
• Her first- and second-round opponents both described struggling with the crowd noise.

NEW YORK — Serena Williams has strung together an incredible, improbable run at the 2022 US Open — more than likely the final tournament of her illustrious professional tennis career.

The crowd noise coming from Arthur Ashe Stadium — where the 23-time Grand Slam champion has played each of her matches during primetime — have been nothing less than explosive. Littered with movie stars, sports icons, and even former US Presidents, the audiences, nearly 30,000 strong, offered Williams chants of encouragement and several standing ovations throughout her first two victories in Flushing Meadows.

Montenegro's Danka Kovinić and Estonia's Anett Kontaveit — Williams' first- and second-round opponents, respectively — both said they struggled with the crowd noise and bias during their matches against the sport's greatest-ever champion. Kovinić, who was ranked World No. 80 heading into this year's US Open, had almost certainly never played a match as high-profile and closely watched as Monday night's opener.

"It was so loud," Kovinić said with a laugh after the match. "Everyone was telling me that this is maybe the loudest court in tennis. It was really loud in some moments.... That was one thing definitely on the outside courts, we don't have this experience.

"I remember first game, the forehand that I missed for Serena to [go up] 1-0, that one hit in the net," she added. "Because everyone went crazy, I mean, at that moment, I didn't hear that sound so I couldn't anticipate where the ball will go. That was the first moment when I realized, 'Okay, if they're going to be this loud, whole match is going to be tough.'"

Kontaveit, meanwhile, was ranked second in the world upon facing the six-time US Open singles champion in Wednesday night's three-set thriller. The 26-year-old has played many high-stakes matches over the course of her young but impressive career.

Still, none of them could have possibly prepared her for the atmosphere surrounding what was widely expected to be Williams' final singles match.

"I expected it. You can expect something — I saw it from the previous match — but when you're on the court, I mean, it was hard," Kontaveit said after her loss Wednesday night. "I knew it was coming, but I guess you can't learn from anyone else's mistakes. Feeling it, it was something I never experienced before.

"Of course it was her moment," she added, referring to Williams. "I mean, I was trying to do my own thing, [but] this is totally about her. I was very aware of that.... I think they were not rooting against me, they just wanted Serena to win so bad. So, I mean, I don't think it's a personal attack against me or anything. It's fair — she deserves this."

But the players in the unenviable position some 78 feet across the court from Williams weren't the only ones affected by the raucous crowds following her every move. Athletes competing on neighboring courts at the same time could clearly hear the cheers and jeers emerging from Arthur Ashe.

Even those positioned a considerable distance from the US Open's main stadium — the largest tennis arena in the world — were catching the racket from across the grounds in Queens. Ajla Tomljanović, the 29-year-old Australian who will play Williams in Friday night's third-round match, said she could hear the hubbub from the outer courts.

"I was playing on Court 7, both of my matches so far, at the same time as her, and I could hear the crowd," the World No. 46 said Wednesday after her three-set victory. "I'm like, Court 7 isn't that close. I kept thinking, 'Oh, my God, that's annoying me, and I'm not even playing against her.'

"When the crowd gets involved, that's what it can get to you," she added, looking ahead to Friday night's match. "I think maybe the closest thing to it was when I played Emma [Raducanu] Court 1 in Wimby. I remember coming off that match and thinking, 'Wow, that was intense.' I mean, it got to me a little bit, the volume of the crowd."

Tomljanović plans to borrow a strategy from Novak Djokovic, the Serbian superstar who famously was not allowed to compete at this year's US Open after his refusal to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

The 21-time Grand Slam champion has made himself into something of a villain as a result, and has ample experience dealing with less-than-favorable crowds.

"I remember Novak saying one time when they asked him a lot about this, when the crowd was against him, he just pretends it's for him," Tomljanović explained. "When they chant, I don't know, Rafa [Nadal], Roger [Federer], whoever, he hears Novak, Novak.

"I kind of liked that response," she added. "I might use that on Friday night."