Venus powers into Round 3
On Thursday, Venus Williams kept favourites on the fast track at the US Open, overwhelming Rossana de Los Rios in less than an hour to reach the third round.
Williams, the US Open winner in 2000 and 2001, did not get much of a workout in the 59-minute match against the 113-ranked De Los Rios, 32, who has never gone beyond the second round at Flushing Meadows. In the third round, Williams will meet Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian sixth seed Dinara Safina overcame a couple of concentration lapses to defeat Italy’s Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-3 in the second round. Safina established a 3-0 lead in the opening set and a 3-1 advantage in the second but each time seemed to lose her focus, allowing a scrambling Vinci to break back. However, Safina averted the danger by outclassing Vinci with her powerful serves and groundstrokes.
Rohan-Aisam crash out
India’s Rohan Bopanna and his doubles partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi of Pakistan crashed out of the US Open doubles in the first round with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat to the French pair of Marc Gicquel and Sebastien Grosjean.
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