US Open, Flushing Meadows
Dates: 30 August - 12 September Start time: 1600 BST
Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles; updates on BBC Radio 5 live; live on Sky Sports  Williams is looking to win her third US Open title
Two-time champion Venus Williams and title holder Kim Clijsters both won in straight sets on day one of the US Open at Flushing Meadows, New York. Clijsters had to overcome a wobble in the second set to beat Greta Arn 6-0 7-5 and book her place in round two. The Belgian second seed won the first set in 18 minutes but trailed 4-0 in the second before hitting back to set up a match with Australian Sally Peers. Williams beat Italian Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-1 in the night session. The third seed showed little sign of rustiness in her first appearance since Wimbledon but admitted the knee injury that has kept her sidelined was still an issue. "It was doing pretty good until I landed on that leg," said the American, who will play Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino for a place in the third round.  | To get through the first round of a tournament that you've never really done great in is pretty pleasing |
"But I was playing a tough opponent today, she hits that slice so well so I was really happy to get through after not playing in forever. "I was pretty happy with my game, I did everything pretty consistently and I had to because she didn't give me a lot of errors. But of course I'm looking to improve with every match." Sam Stosur, Francesca Schiavone, Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva also won but Dinara Safina was beaten. It was a topsy-turvy encounter for Clijsters, returning to the venue 12 months after beating Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki to claim her second US Open title in just her third event after coming out of retirement. "I've been looking forward to this for a few weeks and it was nice to come back and be happy and healthy," said Clijsters, who suffered a hip problem in Montreal earlier this month. The match appeared to be plain sailing in the opening stages against the 30-year-old Arn, ranked 104th in the world. | 606: DEBATE |
Clijsters did not drop a single game in the first set but her level dropped significantly early in the second, with the number of unforced errors reaching double figures. Arn led 4-0 and, despite losing momentum, still had a service game to take it to a decider at 5-3. But Clijsters, opting to move more regularly into the net, recovered to lead 6-5 and broke again to secure her win in 62 minutes. On the second-set scare, Clijsters said: "She definitely picked her game up but I lost my control of the court and I made too many errors with my return. "That gave her the opportunity to step in and go for it. I was down a double break and I just had to be aggressive." Her second-round match will be against Peers, who defeated Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak of 6-1 6-0. French Open champion Schiavone, seeded sixth, was similarly ruthless in her 6-1 6-0 demolition of Japan's Ayumi Morita, and 12th seed Dementieva saw off Olga Govortsova 6-1 6-2 . Fifth seed Stosur, who was runner-up to Schiavone at Roland Garros, came from behind to beat Elena Vesnina 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1, and number 10 seed Azarenka overcame a blip to beat Monica Niculescu 6-0 5-7 6-1. "To get through the first round of a tournament that you've never really done great in is pretty pleasing. I got better and better as the match moved on," said Stosur. "I felt good going into the tie-break as I felt I was playing better then I sort of rolled through the third." Number 24 seed Daniela Hantuchova advanced with a 6-3 6-4 win against Safina, who was the tournament's top seed in 2009 but has slipped to 50th in the world after missing almost three months of the season with a back injury.
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