Venus Williams won her first round match at the US Open today, getting revenge for a loss at the Rogers Cup to 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens from just a few weeks ago. This was something of a happy surprise, but Venus looked better than she has in quite awhile. Her serves were regular in the 110-plus mph range and her movement and groundstrokes looked crisp. Now, the question is can she maintain that for an entire 2 hour match?
A highlight of the Day 1 results was Venus's sister Serena Williams dismantling Francesca Schiavone 6-0 6-1 in devastating fashion. Rafael Nadal schooled young American Ryan Harrison in straight sets while another young American Sloane Stephens barely escaped the first round with a 3rd set tiebreak win.
The biggest news story of the day was 33-year-old James Blake announcing at a press conference that this tournament would be his last professional tennis appearance. Blake for years was one of the best-looking male tennis players but although he reached World #4 and 2 quarterfinals at the US Open he had not had any good results recently and his retirement was not as much of a surprise as Marion Bartoli's stunner a few weeks ago.
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