Williams, Roddick and Federer advance in US Open

Playing for the first time in two months, Venus Williams beats Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second round.

NEW YORK // Playing for the first time in two months after spraining her left kneecap, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams beat Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-1 yesterday to advance to the second round of the US Open. Williams landed awkwardly on her recently injured leg after hitting a swinging volley and grimaced. It was about the only glitch during her return to tennis. "It was doing pretty good, until I landed on that leg ... I was pretty happy to get through after not playing in forever," said Williams, whose younger sister Serena is not playing in the US Open after surgery for deep cuts on her right foot.

"It's not the same without two Williamses," the No. 3-seeded Venus added during an on-court interview. "I have big shoes to fill with just one Williams here." Williams hit 10 aces, reaching 203kph, and became only the fifth woman with 200 career victories at major tournaments. Other past US Open champions Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters also won on Day 1. Federer hit a back-to-the-net, between-the-legs winner and smacked 18 aces while eliminating Argentina's Brian Dabul 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 at night.

Federer compiled a 46-4 advantage in winners, and none was more impressive than the trick shot that was nearly the same as one he hit against Novak Djokovic in the 2009 US Open semifinals. "This one was incredible again," Federer said. "I turned around and couldn't believe the shot landed in the corner." He improved to 16-0 in night matches at Flushing Meadows and took the first step in his bid to reach a seventh consecutive US Open final. But 32nd-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, who won the tournament in 2001, hit 12 double-faults and was upset by 109th-ranked Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1.

Yesterday's loss is Hewitt's only first-round exit in 11 trips to the US Open. Williams, meanwhile, improved to 12-0 in opening matches in New York, and 48-3 in openers at all major tournaments. She had not competed since being upset in the Wimbledon quarterfinals June 29 by then-No. 82 Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. Pironkova won on Monday, too, and Williams could face her in the third round. That loss at the All England Club, shortly after Williams turned 30, led to talk about how much longer she can contend for major championships - and even how much longer she intends to play on tour.

The No. 2-seeded Clijsters began her title defence with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over 104th-ranked Greta Arn of Hungary. It was an afternoon of mostly straightforward results, although two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling was stretched to five sets before edging 214th-ranked qualifier Andreas Haider-Maurer, who pounded 34 aces. Other winners included No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 11 Marin Cilic, No. 13 Jurgen Melzer, No. 17 Gael Monfils and No. 22 Juan Carlos Ferrero, while No. 27 Fernando Gonzalez quit in the third set of his match against Ivan Dodig because of a knee injury.

Women moving into the second round included surprise 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin, French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, French Open runner-up Sam Stosur, two-time major finalist Elena Dementieva, No. 10 Victoria Azarenka, No. 13 Marion Bartoli, No. 16 Shahar Peer, and No. 24 Daniela Hantuchova, who beat former No. 1 and current No. 50 Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-4. Another past No. 1 now sitting way down in the rankings, No. 40 Ana Ivanovic, reached the second round by eliminating Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-2.

Williams got off to a good start against Vinci, leading 3-0 and 4-1. But the Italian reeled off three consecutive games and 10 of 12 points to pull level at 4-all, 30-all. That's when Williams took over, delivering an overhead smash on the next point, followed by her fifth ace to hold for a 5-4 lead. Williams then broke Vinci at love, giving her six points in a row to close the first set. In the second set's opening game, Williams winced and briefly seemed uncomfortable when she planted her left foot on a winner near the net.

"Thankfully," Williams said, "after that, she did most of the running." * AP