Venus Williams bows out in first round of women’s singles at US Open
Venus Williams of the US takes her first loss at the US Open, falling to Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai, 6-2, in the first round of the women’s singles, at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday (AP Photo/David Cannon).
Venus Williams won her first-ever Grand Slam singles match at the US Open on Monday.
On a slow, damp afternoon in Queens, Venus Williams won her first-ever Grand Slam singles match — and first at the US Open — when she outlasted Zhang Shuai 6-2 in an opening-round match, completing a sweep of world No. 1s after being on the losing end of last week’s French Open final.
Williams became the sixth American woman to win a Grand Slam singles title in the US Open, joining Helen Stephens (who won the title in singles in 1968), Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport. The last American to win a Grand Slam doubles title was Billie Jean King.
She is now tied with Venus and Serena with three major singles titles. Williams became the first woman in the history of tennis to win 24 U.S. Singles titles and four U.S. Doubles titles.
Williams’ victory ended a two-tournament winning streak for Zhang as she lost the French Open final last week.
“The key thing after this match was the mental. It was amazing. I started the match off with a great start and found myself playing very consistent,” said Williams, whose game is known for its power and resilience. “For me, I can play bad but that’s not going to beat me. You keep going back and you have to keep finding that right moment to give yourself the chance to win.”
Williams said she was excited that “it’s always hard” when the top two seeds for a tournament miss the semifinals. Williams reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Zhang, who is ranked No. 21 in the world, was