Win or lose Monday night, Serena Williams will be feted by the USTA in an elaborate farewell ceremony after her first-round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, according to a source.
The festivities, featuring videos and the like, will feel a lot more joyous if Williams wins.
It’s finally showtime for Serena, who faces 80th-ranked Danka Kovinic in potentially her final singles match at 7 p.m. before a sell-out crowd of 23,800.
The 40-year-old Compton legend, according to a source, will have some 100 guests on hand — family and friends — besides thousands of her frenzied fans. The USTA is truncating its usual opening-night ceremony to lavish praise on Serena after her match.
“Kovinic is better on clay,’’ ESPN’s analyst Pam Shriver told The Post. “She hasn’t won a match since the French. Anything can happen but it’s pretty good first-round draw for Serena.
“But there’ll be so much emotion, energy and buildup. You [don’t] know how either will deal with it. Serena has been great on big stages in the past, but this is different. All eyes are on the first few games.”
Soon after the women’s U.S. Open draw was released Thursday, there came this post on Instagram:
“WHAT A MOMENT. Looking forward to this”
That wasn’t a message from Williams, who has been relatively mum this week amid the tumult of her impending retirement after winning 23 Grand Slam titles — six at the Open.
It came from her first-round opponent, the 80th-ranked plugger from Montenegro, embracing the spotlight.
The 27-year-old mostly has toiled in obscurity since turning pro in 2010 and has never cracked the top 40. She’s also in a slump — a five-match losing streak — and has won two matches total in her career in Flushing.
But the hard-hitting Kovinic can forever become a sports-trivia question answer Monday night if she beats Williams and sends her into retirement.
At this juncture, turning 41 in a few weeks, after going 1-3 since her comeback at Wimbledon, Serena can lose to anybody.
This will be one of those special New York sports nights with Ashe Stadium read to rock and roll Williams into the second round.
Shriver said ESPN colleague and Williams’ new coach Rennae Stubbs has tried to lessen the pressure.
“Serena has done everything she can — she didn’t come back in great shape — while in New York to play as well as she can at almost 41 who hasn’t played much match tennis,’’ Shriver said.
“Rennae is trying to make sure Serena is enjoying the process and trying to find some lightness. It’s easier said than done with Serena’s perfectionism. But [Monday] night is nothing we’ve seen.’’
While it is a favorable first-round opponent for the unseeded Williams, Kovinic has seen her strongest results in the majors this year, getting to the third round of both the Australian Open and French Open. She took out reigning Open champion Emma Raducanu in Australia.
On Friday’s media day, Raducanu said, “I’m going to know how Danka feels in that sort of situation. I remember [Kovinic] was really, really solid, was staying with you, counterpunching. She’s happy to run, happy to rally. It’s going to be a good matchup, I think.”
Williams’ computer ranking is 413th as she missed a year with injuries before coming back for Wimbledon, losing in the first round, then losing her second match in Toronto and first match in Cincinnati — also against Raducanu.
If Williams survives, she’ll be headed for a second-round meeting with Anett Kontaviet. But either way, there will be a Serena celebration Monday night in Flushing.
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