Even in an almost empty Arthur Ashe Stadium, Serena Williams’ serve was still awesome.
After a shaky start, when she lost her first service game to fall behind, Williams broke the silence with her booming serve — and broke Chris Evert’s record, too.
Williams punished 13 aces to post a 7-5, 6-3, first-round victory over American Kristie Ahn on Tuesday at the fan-less U.S. Open, winning her 102nd Flushing match to top Evert’s all-time mark.
It wasn’t completely barren at Ashe. There were about 40 or so people scattered about in the 23,500-seat stadium, including Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglu, in the first row behind the baseline, and her husband, Alexis Ohanian.
“It’s quiet but it’s such a big stadium,’’ Williams said. “There’s [fan] screens and it’s a Grand Slam. I still am as passionate and intense out there. I love my job and love what I do. One of these days, it’s going to end, [but] I love being out here.’’
After losing in the early rounds of two Open tuneups, this was a relieving performance for Williams, who is now six wins away from tying Margaret Court with 24 Grand Slam titles.
Even without her usual crowd support, Williams said she likes the vibe.
“I think what’s most important about this event taking place is just the spirit,’’ Williams said. “Sport has been gone for so long, particularly tennis. We missed two Grand Slams. The morale can be really low in the world with everything that’s going on. Sometimes you just want to take your mind off. That’s one of the reasons I was so supportive of the U.S. Open.”
Ahn, of Englewood, N.J., gave Williams a fight for a set before wearing down. Williams is 20-0 in first-round Open matches.
There were a few more seats filled for Williams than for any other Ashe match — many of them stadium workers wanting to see the 38-year-old legend.
Serena, after battling back from a 2-0 deficit, was serving at 4-4 in the first set and faced a critical break point at 30-40. She pounded out two straight aces, after which she clenched her fist and then delivered a service winner off the tip of Ahn’s racket.
Williams won 85 percent of her first serves (33 of 39) as Ahn didn’t have enough weapons to counter.
