Venus Williams thrilled the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd with glimpses of her signature brilliance but finally succumbed in the first round of the US Open, beaten by 11th seed Karolina Muchova.
Muchova, a semifinalist in New York last year, remained cool to post a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory in two hours on the dot, handing the seven-time Grand Slam champion her fourth consecutive first-round loss at Flushing Meadows.
The match started with Williams losing serve in the first game and soon being down 0-2. With three more break points in her subsequent service set, she served them out and built a 3-2 lead with three successive games. But inconsistency set in, and Muchova swept the next four to take the first set. Venus' serve weakened as she committed seven double faults in the opener.
The second set was different Williams. She broke Muchova right away, taking control of the rallies with 10 winners and only five unforced errors and maintaining her serve firm with a lone double fault. But the comeback was short-lived. Muchova regained her composure in the third set, taking complete charge to seal the match.
Muchova advances to play either Sorana Cirstea or Solana Sierra in the second round after her victory. In reflection afterwards, she conceded that it had been both an honor and a challenge playing alongside Williams.
For Venus, this was her 25th US Open singles outing, in itself a record, almost three decades since her 1997 debut when she made a dramatic run into the final as a teenager. She then won the trophy in 2000 and 2001, one of only three women this century to successfully defend a US Open title alongside Kim Clijsters and sister Serena Williams.
She teetered on another title bid in 2017, losing to eventual champion Sloane Stephens in the semifinals. This was her 101st US Open singles appearance, with 79 wins on her tally—figures that only Serena, Chris Evert, and Martina Navratilova have beaten.
At 45, Williams also became the third-oldest woman in history to play singles at the US Open.
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