US Open: Serena Williams reveals Tiger Woods was the driving force for her return to tennis

The diamond-clad veteran delivered her best tennis since the Australian Open semi-finals last January, winning 7-6 (4) 2-6 6-2 and advancing to the third round.

The dream ending - a record-tying 24th grand slam singles championship in her final tournament - is still a long way off, but this performance hinted that it might happen.

Williams revealed in a Vogue column announcing her "evolution" away from tennis that Woods advised her on whether to take one more shot.

"He's one of the reasons I'm here, one of the key reasons I'm still playing," she said of the golf legend on Wednesday. We talked for hours. He was genuinely trying to motivate me.

"There are a few people, but we were like, 'OK, we can do this together.'" It was beneficial because I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was perplexed by so many questions. It was incredibly significant to obtain clarity when you can rely on someone like him - I mean, my gosh, he's Tiger Woods."

Returning to the sport appears to be a good decision now, and Williams, who meets Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia next, plainly believes she has more to contribute.

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