Serena celebrates US Open return with crushing win
Tennis ace Serena Williams was disappointed she didn’t get to say goodbye to her daughter before heading to Flushing Meadows to play in the US Open for the first time in two years.
So after needing just 70 minutes to put together a 6-4, 6-0 victory over 68th-ranked Magda Linette of Poland under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday, Williams was excited to go make amends.
Williams told the crowd in her on-court interview afterward that it “kind of broke my spirit” to not have a proper farewell with Olympia, who celebrates her first birthday this weekend.
“But I got through it,” Williams said, “and I get to go back and see her.”
The 36-year-old six-time champion at the US Open missed it last year because she gave birth during the tournament.
“It’s such a good feeling to be back out here,” said Williams, who improved to 18-0 in first-round matches at Flushing Meadows and 68-1 in openers at all slams.
“The first set was tight. It was my first back here in New York, so that wasn’t the easiest. Once I got settled, I started doing what I’m trying to do in practice.”
Williams came into this week in what amounts to a slump for her, with losses in three of her past four matches. Then again, one of those setbacks came in the Wimbledon final against Angelique Kerber.
Still, she is not accustomed to those sorts of stretches. This is only her seventh tournament this season as she bids for her 24th grand slam title.
“I think I’m getting there,” Williams said. “I’ve been feeling really good in practice and I’m training so hard.”
She is seeded 17th and moved into a second-round meeting against 101stranked Carina Witthoeft of Germany. Win that, and Williams could face a familiar foe in the third round: her older sister, Venus, a two-time US Open champion who is seeded No 16 and edged 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
Earlier, Simona Halep said her goodbyes, as she crashed out in the first round to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia — to become the first top-seeded woman to lose in the opening round of the US Open in the professional era.
Halep, who won the French Open in June for her first grand slam title, was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by 44th-ranked Kanepi in a stunningly lopsided match that lasted just 76 minutes.
Others making the second round included defending champion and No 3 seed Sloane Stephens, two-time finalist Victoria Azarenka, and twotime grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza.
Four seeded men exited the US Open yesterday, including No 8 Grigor Dimitrov against three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka.
No 16 seed Kyle Edmund and No 19 Roberto Bautista Agut were also eliminated.
Andy Murray, whose three major titles include the 2012 US Open, played his first grand slam match in more than a year and won, beating James Duckworth 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.