Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness were present to cheer Serena Williams on at the US Open, her last professional tournament.
Serena Williams is considered the greatest tennis player of all time by many and is certainly a sportsperson who has inspired the “Wolverine” actor. Hugh Jackman shared an adorable of himself and his wife on Instagram and paid tribute to the iconic tennis player in the caption. “Off to the US Open to watch the one and only Serena Williams. Serena, Deb and I are so excited to watch you play and bear witness to your evolution for many years to come. You are an icon and a true inspiration to boys and girls around the world,” he wrote, before adding the hashtag #GOAT, reported PEOPLE.
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 12: Actor Hugh Jackman (L) and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness attend “Hugh Jackman..One Night Only” benefiting the MPTF at the Dolby Theatre on October 12, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Jackman, 53, wore a stylish navy blue patterned suit and a white button-up shirt along with black sneakers, while Furness, 66, donned an all-white ensemble and paired it with blue sunglasses. The duo posted a picture of themselves on a staircase from their water-view apartment, before heading to the US open match. Jackman and Furness have been frequent visitors at the US Open and have followed Serena’s game as he hinted in the caption as well.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 29: Serena Williams of the United States poses for a photo with family and friends following her victory against Danka Kovinic of Montenegro during the Women’s Singles First Round on Day One of the 2022 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 29, 2022 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Serena Williams opened the tournament with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Danka Kovinić in the first round of the singles in the US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Williams is all set to face world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the singles round of 64. It will be the first meeting for the pair. Williams will also team up with her sister Venus to play doubles at the tournament. There were a lot of popular names in the crowd there to witness Serena Williams in her last tournament. Ashley Graham, Gayle King, Katie Couric, Lindsey Vonn, Vera Wang, Anthony Anderson, Martina Navratilova, Mayor Eric Adams, Rebel Wilson, Anna Wintour, Sela Ward, Gladys Knight, Anika Noni Rose, Diplo, Mike Tyson, Naomi Osaka, Spike Lee, Queen Latifah, Billie Jean King, Bella Hadid, Offset and former President Bill Clinton were some of the celebrities in attendance.
There were 24,000 people in attendance and they were wildly cheering for the 23-time Grand Slam champion. “The crowd was crazy,” she said, reported CNN. She announced earlier this month that she plans to step away from professional tennis after 27 years. This makes it Serena’s final chance to win her 24th Grand Slam victory and tie Margaret Court’s record. She shied away from using the word ‘retirement’ as she explained her decision. “I have never liked the word retirement,” she wrote. “It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of 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. Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution,” she wrote in Vogue.
The tennis player wants to dedicate more time to her family and be more available to her 5-year-old daughter Olympia. “It’s hard to completely commit when your flesh and blood is saying, ‘Aw,’” wrote Williams. “I’m ready for the transition. … I think I’m good at [being a mom], but I want to explore if I can be great at it.” She still isn’t quite throwing in the towel yet. “Yeah, I’ve been pretty vague about it, right?” she said when asked repeatedly if it was her last tournament. “I’m going to stay vague because you never know.” The 40-year-old spoke about how hard it would be to move on from the professional circuit. “I think when you’re passionate about something and you love something so much, it’s always hard to walk away,” she said. “Sometimes I think it’s hard to walk away than to not. That’s been the case for me.”