Venus struggles, survives opening round test

Venus Williams entered her first round match Monday having lost three of her final four matches in the Olympus US Open Series.

Leave it to the New York City vibe to vault Venus back into the winner’s circle.

The two-time US Open champion struggled on serve before rallying for a 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3 first round victory over Russian Vera Dushevina. She has reached at least the fourth round in each of her 10 previous appearances in Flushing.

“I had a challenge on my hands today, but I wanted to win,” Williams said. “Each good shot and each not-so-good shot I put behind me and looked forward to the next one. Most of all, I just enjoyed the moment.”

On a night when four athletes were honored for their charitable work, Williams made plenty of donations on court.

Sporting a hot pink ensemble from her “EleVen” clothing line, Williams started sluggishly, double faulting twice in conceding the opening game. Dushevina took a 2-0 lead following four more errors off Williams’ Wilson racquet. During the match’s first changeover, the No. 3 seed had her left knee treated by a trainer.

With a wrap below her knee cap, Williams, who would not elaborate on her injury in her press conference, broke Dushevina in the fourth game to level the match. Leading 4-3, Williams had a chance to reach Love-40 on the Russian’s serve when she blasted a forehand at Dushevina’s body. But Dushevina responded with a rapid reflex volley and a nifty backhand overhead to win the first of eight consecutive points.

Dushevina served for the first set at 5-4 and 6-5, but was broken in both games.

Running around her forehand, the Russian belted a pair of down-the-line backhand winners in the tiebreaker, but fell behind 5-3.

Williams was called for her fourth foot fault of the set while serving for a 6-3 tiebreak lead. After asking the linesman which foot committed the infraction, Williams hit her second serve into the net.

“It threw me off in the tiebreak because I had 6-3,” Williams said. “After that, I just got a little tentative. The tiebreak was definitely in my hands. I could have had the opportunity to close it out in two sets.”

Dushevina won her two service points before Williams attacked the net at 5-6, placing a forehand volley squarely on the sideline. But Dushevina was one shot better, flicking a crosscourt backhand past Williams to claim the first set after 76 minutes.

Looking for her first win against a top-3 player since 2005, Dushevina broke Williams’ regularly reliable serve for the fourth straight time to take a 3-1 lead. But as had been the case in the first set, the Russian couldn’t consolidate.

“Once I was down 1-3 in the second, I really just tried to stay focused and not to unravel and start to go for bigger and better shots, which wasn't the answer,” Williams said. “I really don't remember quite what happened at the moment, but it really worked out.”

Williams wrong footed Dushevina with a crosscourt backhand winner to take a 6-5 lead in the second set. For all her service woes, Williams pounded four unreturnable serves to even the match.

The American maintained her momentum in the third set, rushing to a 4-0 lead. After two hours and 43 minutes, Williams wrapped up the win with a down-the-line forehand that drew an error from the Russian.

Though Williams maintained her perfect record in first round matches at the US Open, she has room for her improvement. Her 11 aces against Dushevina were offset by 10 double faults. Her 53 winners were overshadowed by 54 unforced errors.

Williams will play countrywoman Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second round. Also in Williams’ sixteenth of the draw are 2005 US Open champion Kim Clijsters and Bank of the West Classic champion Marion Bartoli.