New York: Serena Williams trounced old foe Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-1 in their blockbuster first round clash Monday at the US Open to get her quest for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title off to a flying start.
Serena Williams, in her first US Open match since her infamous row with the chair umpire overshadowed her loss in last year’s final, used her trademark power to overwhelm Maria Sharapova in the first meeting at the US Open between two of the sport’s biggest names.
Eighth seed Serena Williams showed no signs of the back spasms that forced her to retire in tears from the Toronto final two weeks ago and instead showcased some of her best on-court movement since returning from maternity leave in 2018. The win took Serena’s record against Maria Sharapova to 20-2.
Serena will next meet American wildcard Catherine McNally, who beat Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-4, 6-1.
It was smooth flowing for Serena’s sister Venus Williams who ended a run of suffering first-round exits at Grand Slam tournaments by walloping China’s Zheng Saisai 6-1, 6-0.
The 39-year-old American had failed to win a match at this year’s French Open and Wimbledon tournaments but Monday showed some of the form that had earned her two US Open titles.
Zheng failed to make much of an impact throughout the match, firing off just six winners compared to her opponent’s 25. Venus capped a ruthless performance by firing down a 115mph ace on match point.
More than two decades after she made her US Open debut, Venus said she was not about to get carried away with the win.
“I was happy with today, so I’m not going to ask for more. Whether the win is easy or whether it’s tough, a win is a win,” Venus told reporters. “Getting to the next round is about getting the win on your side and building yourself up during the tournament and patting yourself on the back for every good achievement.”
It was however, tough for French Open champion Ashleigh Barty who survived a first round scare. She struggled, but finally could beat Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 25-year-old Diyas took five straight games in the first set, as the world No.2 committed a string of unforced errors and got in just 25 per cent of her first serves.
Barty was able to stop the pain midway through the second set, converting on a crucial breakpoint opportunity to take a 5-3 lead and reverse the momentum in what had been a one-sided match.
“Not the ideal start, not the perfect start, but it is what it is. I was able to find a way after that to get into the match and be more patient and really just kind of lock down and wait until I got the right balls and right patterns that I wanted,” Barty told reporters.
Reuters