NEW YORK — Venus Williams’ 100th career U.S. Open match produced her most lopsided loss at the Grand Slam tournament where she won the trophy in 2000 and 2001.
Williams, at 43 the oldest player in the field, was eliminated 6-1, 6-1 by Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen at muggy Arthur Ashe Stadium in the first round on Tuesday night.
The first 21 times Williams entered the U.S. Open, she went 21-0 in the first round. But this was her third consecutive opening-round loss at Flushing Meadows.
The 26-year-old Minnen was born in August 1997, the month before Williams reached the U.S. Open final for the first time.
“For me, it was incredible to play a legend like her. I have huge respect,” said Minnen, who is ranked 97th and entered the evening with a 4-12 career record in Grand Slam matches. “To be there at 43 years old, it’s amazing really.”
Williams — whose younger sister, Serena, retired from tennis after last year’s U.S. Open — owns seven major championships, including five at Wimbledon.
But she has lost in the first or second round in each of her past 12 Slam appearances.
The spectators on Tuesday seemed thrilled just to get a chance to see her play in person, sending her toward the locker room with a standing ovation. Williams gave a quick wave and a smile as she walked off, her red racket bag slung over her left shoulder.
The temperature was in the low 70s Fahrenheit (20s Celsius), but the humidity was 90%, and Williams was not able to stay in the points with Minnen.
It was quickly 3-0, with Williams - owner of what used to be one of the most intimidating serves in the game - broken twice right away. She lost each of her first half-dozen second-serve points.
Minnen did what she could to keep Williams off-balance and it worked.
“She has amazing strokes, amazing serve. … I tried to make her move as much as possible,” Minnen said, adding that used drop shots effectively, “which I’m not used to.”
By the end, holding a large lead against one of the greats of the sport, Minnen said she felt some jitters trying to close out the victory.
“My heart was beating really, really fast,” she said.
Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev sent an early message that this U.S. Open might be more than a two-man race between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
The 2021 champion rolled into the second round Tuesday, beating Attila Balázs 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 in just 1 hour, 14 minutes.
“That’s probably the fastest three-set match I played,” Medvedev said.
About 12 hours after Djokovic won easily in his return to the U.S. Open, the No. 3-seeded Medvedev looked just as impressive as when he beat Djokovic for the 2021 title to deny the 23-time major champion from Serbia what would have been the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969.
Alcaraz, the No. 1 seed, was set to begin his title defense Tuesday night against Dominik Koepfer.
Alcaraz edged Djokovic for the title at Wimbledon, after Djokovic eliminated the Spaniard in the semifinals en route to the French Open title.
“Of course we know that the biggest, let’s say, players right now are Carlos and Novak,” Medvedev said. “But, well, they have to win their matches also to meet me, if I’m there. Same works for me.”
Medvedev certainly has the game to compete with either on the hard courts of the U.S. Open, where the Russian was also the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2019 before winning his first major two years later.
The women’s No. 3 seed, Jessica Pegula, also moved on quickly with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Camila Giorgi.
Andy Murray, who won the 2012 U.S. Open title, advanced in straight sets but needed nearly three hours to do it, beating Corentin Moutet 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.
“It was a long one, but the way that we play it was probably always going to be like that,” Murray said, joking that it was still shorter than many of his matches these days at age 36.
Stan Wawrinka, who won the trophy in 2016, followed Murray’s victory on the Grandstand.
No. 5 seed Ons Jabeur, who lost in last year’s final to Iga Swiatek, was checked by a trainer and was coughing and blowing her nose during her match before getting past Camila Osorio 7-5, 7-6 (4). She said she has the flu and a history of asthma, calling it a “a very, very tough day.”
“To be honest with you, I just thought: Just put the ball in and see what happens,” Jabeur said.
She found a way through, unlike Leylah Fernandez, the runner-up in 2021, who was eliminated by No. 22 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4.
Also ousted was No. 7 Caroline Garcia, a 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist who was routed 6-4, 6-1 by Chinese qualifier Wang Yafan. But Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, the No. 9 seed, advanced easily by knocking out qualifier Na Lae Han 6-3, 6-0 in an hour.
Other seeded winners on the men’s side included No. 12 Alexander Zverev and No. 16 Cam Norrie. No. 11 seed Karen Khachanov, who reached the semifinals last year, lost 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to American wild card Michael Mmoh; and No. 29 Ugo Humbert of France was swept by Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.