New Delhi: In the women's singles top seed Justine Henin needed just 62 minutes to book her place in the second round. Henin cruised past Julia Goerges 6-0, 6-3. Though, Henin wasn't at her best, but she was still way too good for Goerges on the opening day.
"There are places where you feel a little bit better. Here for me it's maybe a little bit more difficult. It takes a lot of energy, I think, this tournament. It's also the last Grand Slam of the season, last chance to do well in Grand Slams. So you can feel the tension probably a little bit more," Justine Henin said.
However, third seed Jelena Jankovic didn't have it so easy, though. She advanced to the second round by beating Slovakia's Jarmila Gajdosova in a tough two setter 6-2, 7-6.
"Today was a little bit of a bad day for me. I didn't play great. I was very nervous. But it's always good to get through matches like this, and then you can play better and better," a tired Jankovic said.
On the other hand there was absolutely no problem for Ana Ivanovic. Her match lasted 62 minutes as she beat world No. 49, Aiko Nakamura of Japan in straight sets 6-1, 6-1.
Both the Williams sisters were also in action during the evening session at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Wimbledon champion Venus faced Hungarian Kira Nagy and the 12th seed took just 54 minutes to wrap up a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
She also broke the main-draw record for the fastest women's serve with a 129 mph bullet as she blasted past the Hungarian.
But matters weren't quite as easy for the younger Williams sister though.
Serena Williams won the first set easily against Germany's Angelique Kerber, but she had to struggle in the second set to finally complete a 6-3, 7-5 win in one hour and 17 minutes.
The only three seeded women to fall were No. 17 Tatiana Golovin, No. 25 Mara Santangelo and No. 29 Samantha Stosur but Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli advanced into the next round.
World No. 2 Maria Sharapova will open the defence of her title at the US Open later on Monday.
Sharapova will meet Italy's Roberta Vinci in her first round match at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Sharapova is the second seed on the women's side behind Belgium's Justine Henin, whom she beat in last year's US Open final.
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