Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium might be higher ranked than two-time US Open champion Venus Williams, but you wouldn’t have known it from the way their opening round match went in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Williams, currently ranked No. 60, utilized punishing ground strokes to make timely trips to the net for winning volleys, hammering down 17 winners to advance into the second round with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
With today’s victory, Williams also avenged a first round loss to Flipkens earlier this month in Cincinnati and racked up just her second tour level win this year since the WTA Tour event in Charleston in April.
Williams looked sharp in the early stages of the match, hammering eight winners to race to a 4-0 lead in 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, Flipkens, who advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon this year, struggled with her serve throughout the set. She had five doubles faults in her four service games, while her second serve sat up in the strike zone of the former world No. 1 and allowed her to win only 8 percent of her second serve points.
A double fault by Flipkens wrapped up the opening set for Williams after just 27 minutes of play. A strong forehand return of serve by Williams gave her an early break of serve to lead 2-0 in the second set, but the No. 12 seed wasn’t going down without a fight.
Hitting her returns of serve earlier and charging the net more aggressively, she put Williams on the defensive for the first time of the match and earned the break of serve back.
That led to a titanic, seven-deuce game at 2-2 in the second set, which featured some of the best points in the match. Both women had game points, but Williams finally ripped a forehand cross-court winner to take the game.
By McCarton Ackerman, US OPEN OFFICIAL
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