US Open gallery: women's draw, day 1
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Defending champion Serena Williams made light work of compatriot Alexa Glatch as she cruised into round two of the US Open with a 6-4 6-1 win.
The No.2 seed, winner of three of the last four slams, raced into a 5-1 lead but a lapse in concentration allowed her 19-year-old opponent back into the set. Serena recovered to serve it out, and made no such mistake in the second.
“Ten years ago I definitely wasn’t a favourite,” said Williams, who won her first US Open title in 1999. “I felt like I had nothing to lose and I like that attitude.
“When you play with that attitude then you can go a really long way. That’s how I would like to approach it this year.”
In contrast, tree points separated Venus Williams from becoming the shock of the day as she found herself pushed all the way in her first round match against Vera Dushevina.
The two-time former champion struggled with a knee injury from the early stages of the night-session encounter, requiring treatment after just three games, but showed great determination to grind out a 6-7(5) 7-5 6-3 victory and set up a showdown with fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in round two.
The knee injury gave the No.3 seed similar problems to those she experienced at Wimbledon as she struggled on serve, hitting 10 double faults and seven foot faults.
“She played so well, moved so well and did so many things so well but I had so much help from the fans here,” said Williams.
“I felt so much energy when I was serving to stay in the match in the second set. I am going to do my best to prepare for the next round.”
Earlier Kim Clijsters made it look easy on her grand slam return, crushing Viktoriya Kutusova 6-1 6-1 to open the day’s action in Flushing Meadows.
Playing in New York for the first time since winning the 2005 title, the former world No.1 outmanoeuvred and outhit the Ukrainian to rack up five breaks of serve on her way to a 54-minute win.
“It was nice to come out here on centre court and open the tournament, as I didn’t get to do so as defending champion a few years ago,” said the Belgian.
“I’m glad I won in two sets without wasting too much energy. I had a few butterflies, more than I normally do because it was centre court and my first match back at a grand slam.
Next up for Clijsters will be No.14 seed Marion Bartoli, who also made light work of her first round opponent, thrashing Rossana De Los Rios 6-1 6-0.
There were routine straight-set victories for Vera Zvonareva, Agnieszka Radwanska and Victoria Azarenka, as well as Maria Kirilenko, Francesca Schiavone and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo overcame Tatjana Malek 6-3 6-4 to face Aleksandra Wozniak in round two after the Canadian posted a 6-1 7-6(7) victory over Laura Granville.
But French Open semi-finalist Sam Stosur found the going tough against Ai Sugiyama. The No.15 seed edged out the Japanese 34-year-old in a match littered with break points – both taken and lost – to win 6-4 4-6 6-4 and set up a second-round clash with Vania King, who progressed when Anastasiya Yakimova withdrew after just three games of their match.
“I am very happy to go through and winning was the main thing,” said Stosur. “There were so many momentum changes and I got the last one.
“I will have to play better in the next round. I just don’t know why this tournament has never been good to me.”
