Serena Williams’ quest on Tuesday for a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam got off the mark as Andy Murray rolled back the years with a vintage comeback at the US Open.
Six-time winner Williams powered past 96th-ranked Kristie Ahn, after Murray came from two sets down to win a five-set thriller in his first singles Slam match in 18 months.
The pair progressed to the second round on the second day of a US Open that is unrecognizable from previous tournaments, as COVID-19 has forced organizers to bar spectators, while implementing stringent prevention measures.
Photo: AFP
Williams defeated Ahn 7-5, 6-3, as she started the latest bid of her protracted pursuit to match Margaret Court’s Grand Slam title record with a straight-sets win at Flushing Meadows.
The 38-year-old overcame the loss of her first service game in the opening set to advance at a nearly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I was really happy with how I just fought for every point, no matter how I was playing,” Williams said.
It has been more than three years since Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open — when she was pregnant with daughter Olympia.
She has come close since, reaching four major finals only to come away empty-handed, but should have a better chance this time as several top players are absent due to coronavirus concerns or injury.
World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, the second-ranked Simona Halep and Canadian Bianca Andreescu — who stunned Williams in last year’s final — are all absent from the closed-doors tournament.
A title win for Williams would also see her become the most decorated women’s player at the US Open in the modern era. She is tied with Chris Evert on six.
Murray secured a stunning 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 come-from-behind victory in a bruising 4 hour, 39 minute encounter against Japan’s 49th-ranked Yoshihito Nishioka.
The Scotsman, who this year has barely played, said that he learned a lot about his physical condition and the metal hip he received during surgery last year.
“I’ve just played a four-and-a-half hour match when I never thought I’d be able to,” he told reporters. “I’m not sitting here with my hip throbbing and aching. I’ll be able to sleep fine tonight.”
Tenth seed Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 French Open champion and 2017 Wimbledon winner, advanced to round two with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Japan’s Nao Havino.
She dedicated the win to compatriot Carla Suarez Navarro, who on Tuesday announced that she has been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and needs six months of chemotherapy.
“You know, she’s such a nice woman, so sweet, so kind, so humble. When these things happen to these good people, I feel, like, so sad about it,” Muguruza said.
Second seed American Sofia Kenin needed a bit more than 1 hour to score a 6-2, 6-2 win over unseeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Ninth seed Johanna Konta beat compatriot Heather Watson 7-6 (9/7), 6-1 in a tie dubbed the “Battle of Britain.”
However, 40-year-old Venus Williams was disappointed as she bowed out in the first round for the first time in her career, losing in straight sets to Karolina Muchova.
Belgium’s 37-year-old Kim Clijsters, also fell at the first hurdle.
Clijsters making a comeback for the second time in her career and playing in her first Grand Slam draw since 2012, was beaten in three sets by Ekaterina Alexandrova, losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.
In the men’s competition, No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem progressed to round two when opponent Jaume Munar retired after the second set at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Munar abandoned before the start of the third set, with Austria’s Thiem leading 7-6 (8/6), 6-3.
Thiem next faces India’s Sumit Nagal, who became the first Indian man since 2013 to the reach the second round of a Grand Slam event with a 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over Bradley Klahn of the US.
The US Open is taking place in a spectator-free bubble at the US National Tennis Center in New York City. Players’ movements are tightly controlled and everyone onsite is being tested regularly to minimize the risk of infection.
Argentina’s Guido Pella accused tennis chiefs of operating a double-standard over the handling of French player Benoit Paire’s positive COVID-19 case.
Paire was withdrawn on Sunday, but several French players who had been in contact with him were allowed to remain in the tournament under enhanced safety protocols.
Pella was excluded from last week’s Western & Southern Open, a US Open tune-up, despite testing negative after his trainer contracted the virus.
“I am mad at them because of that, because they change the rules when Benoit tested positive. So I want to know why,” he said after being knocked out in the first round.
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