USA TODAY International Edition
Perfect start
Venus improves first- round mark in Open to 18- 0
Venus Williams is 18- for- 18 in U. S. Open first- round matches after winning Tuesday,
At the U. S. Open, NEW YORK Venus Williams is 18- for- 18 — just barely.
The 36- year- old American avoided going out in the first round of her home major for the first time in 18 appearances Tuesday, overcoming a spirited challenge from 22- year- old Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine 6- 2, 5- 7, 6- 4.
Only Chris Evert, a six- time winner here, has a better firstround record at the Open, having gone 19- 0 in her career.
Williams’ win pushed back the evening session start time, leaving thousands of fans packed outside of Arthur Ashe Stadium for the start of the evening session and sister Serena Williams’ opening- round match. Serena would go on to beat Ekaterina Makarova 6- 3, 6- 3.
Serena looked strong in her victory, hitting 12 aces, winning 90% of points on her first serve and putting 67% of her first serves in. She never faced a break point and didn’t appear to be hampered by a shoulder injury that forced her to withdraw from the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati this month.
The No. 1- ranked player in the world will next face American Vania King, who beat Antonia Lottner in the first round.
Earlier in the day, Jared Donaldson of Providence stunned No. 12 seed David Goffin 4- 6, 7- 5, 6- 4, 6- 0 to earn a spot in the second round and claim his first win in a major. The No. 122- ranked player in the world, Donaldson had to earn his way into the main draw through qualifying and is coached by former pro Taylor Dent.
“I think it was a really, really special victory for me,” said Donaldson, who next faces Viktor Troicki, the world No. 32.
Genie Bouchard, the former world No. 5, crashed out against Katerina Siniakova 6- 3, 3- 6, 6- 2 and faced questions about her lawsuit against the U. S. Tennis Association after her fall in a dark locker room at the tournament a year ago, when she suffered a concussion and was forced to withdraw from the event.
“If I sit down and think about it, it’s something that is far in the back of my mind, yes,” the 22year- old Canadian said. “I have lawyers working on that side of it. … But it doesn’t have anything to do with my day- to- day life.”
High seeds Simona Halep, Stan Wawrinka, Agnieszka Radwanska and Kei Nishikori had no trouble in their openers, but American Sam Querrey was upset.
Venus is playing in her 72nd career Grand Slam main draw, a record for women. When told about the stat, she said, “That’s crazy. I’m grateful, and I’m blessed. … I don’t know when I’m going to stop playing. I don’t have plans now. I’m playing too well to be thinking about stopping. I appear to be getting better each and every month. So I’d like to make that record hard for someone to break.”
Early Tuesday, two other American women — No. 8 seed Madison Keys and Alison Riske — set the record for the latest finish for a women’s match at the Open, finishing at 1: 48 a. m. ET. Keys rallied to beat Riske 4- 6, 7- 6 ( 7- 5), 6- 2.
“Now that I’m a part of it, yay,” a tired Keys said of the record. “( But) let’s try not to break it.”