Venus Williams wins first match in 2 months
Published:Tuesday | August 31, 2010 | 9:29 AM
Playing for the first time in two months, Venus Williams beat Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-1 last night to reach the US Open's second round.
The Number 3-seeded Williams hit 10 aces, reaching 126 miles per hour, and earned her 200th career victory in a Grand Slam match. Two of her seven major titles came at the US Open, in 2000 and 2001.
Earlier, defending champion Kim Clijsters briefly lost her footing on a windy day before recovering in time to win her 15th straight match. The second-seeded Belgian beat Hungary's Greta Arn 6-0, 7-5 in the first round.
Other women’s winners were Melanie Oudin and Francesca Schiavone
In the men’s draw, ninth-seeded Andy Roddick celebrated his 28th birthday by beating Stephane Robert of France 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling was pushed to five sets by a qualifier ranked 214th in the world. The Number 5-seeded Swede beat Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4; while Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt lost in the first round to Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1.