Serena Wiliams takes down world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit to reach third round of US Open

The GIST: Cancel your career tributes and your Friday night plans. As mentioned, Serena Williams is through to the US Open third round after topping world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit in three epic sets. We are witnessing greatness.

The impact: From record-setting crowds (featuring plenty of celebs) to massive spikes in TV viewership to utterly dominating the Twitter-sphere, the Serena Effect is real, and it’s only building as her magical run continues. As it should.

Third round preview: Serena's journey continues tonight at 7 p.m. ET, when she’ll face Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. Tomljanovic’s had a similar path to the third round — she took care of first round business in two sets before grinding out a hard-fought three-set win on Wednesday.

• And while she’s unranked in the tournament, the Aussie has played well as of late, reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and at the recent Western & Southern Open.

• The key to success for Williams will once again be her crushing serve, especially after she notched 11 aces during Wednesday’s victory. That and doing what she does best, “just” being Serena.

Elsewhere: While you wait for the legendary Williams, catch world No. 31 American Shelby Rogers take on No. 5 Ons Jabeur at 11 a.m. ET before an all red, white and blue showdown between No. 20 Madison Keys and No. 12 Coco Gauff at 2 p.m. ET.