Venus makes Grandslam milestone.

Playing her first match in more than two months, since her quarterfinal loss at the All-England Club, Venus Williams looked sharp during a 6-4 6-1 first round win over Roberta Vinci under the lights on Monday.

Williams, the No.3 seed and a two-time former champion at the Open, had a tough time closing out the first set - she let a 4-1 lead get to 4-all before tucking it away - but she was brilliant in the second set, 18 winners to just five errors.

"I definitely missed being on the court this summer," said Williams, who missed the summer hardcourt lead-up due to a knee injury. "I did land on my leg, but thankfully after that she did most of the running, so that helped me a lot."

Williams fired a 124mph ace on the first point of the match, not such a bad return to match play: "It was a great way to start off. I love playing the night match. It was fun - even more fun when the points were going my way."

World No.1 Serena Williams had to withdraw from this year's Open with a foot injury. Her big sister was asked about that, too: "It definitely affects the doubles draw, too. It's just not the same, but that's sport. Sometimes you have to deal with injury, but you just come back stronger. I know she will."

With her win over Vinci, Williams became the fifth player in the Open Era to record 200 Grand Slam match wins (Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario also surpassed that milestone).

The highest-ranked American not named Williams, Melanie Oudin, the darling of last year's Open, also advanced, putting on an impressive mix of aggression and counterpunching to beat Olga Savchuk in the morning, 6-3 6-0.

"It was a real honor to start the US Open off on Ashe, first match. It was cool. I didn't expect that," said Oudin, who made a Cinderella run to the quarters here last year. "I thought I had a really solid match. I was really nervous at the start but I got it out in the first set. In the second set I played really well."

Oudin lost two points in the second set and was asked about the near golden set during her post-match press: "I didn't think about it until I was up 4-0, but then I did. I shouldn't have. I think maybe I would have gotten it."

Other seeds advancing included No.10 seed Victoria Azarenka, No.12 seed Elena Dementieva, No.13 seed Marion Bartoli and No.16 seed Shahar Peer. No.24 seed Daniela Hantuchova avenged a first round loss in New Haven a week ago, beating Dinara Safina, 6-3 6-4. Another former No.1, Ana Ivanovic, made a solid start, snapping a four-match losing streak to lefties by beating Ekaterina Makarova comprehensively in straight sets, 6-3 6-2.

Clijsters Wins despite rocky 2nd set

Kim Clijsters made a strong but rocky start to her US Open title defense by overcoming veteran Hungarian Greta Arn 6-0, 7-5 in just over an hour.

Clijsters raced out of the gates, overwhelming Arn with her speed and her deep groundstrokes, storming through the first set in just 18 minutes. The Belgian won 100% of her first-serve points in the set, at one point serving three aces in a single game.

The second set saw a sudden dip in form for Clijsters, who made several unforced forehand errors in handing Arn a 4-0 lead.

"I kind of lost my positioning and my footing on court a little bit," Clijsters said.

The 27-year-old right-hander regained her composure and roared back, winning six of the next seven games to close out the match. On match point, Clijsters forced Arn off-court with a wide return before putting away a backhand down the line.

The first-round victory marks Clijsters' first US Open match following her surprise run to the title last year. Her return to the 2010 US Open was threatened by a thigh injury suffered earlier this month.

"For these last few weeks already preparing for the Open I've been trying to get my game back," Clijsters said. "But just to come out there and defending my title, I think I've never been in that position, and I was just excited to go out there."

Clijsters will meet 19-year-old Australian Sally Peers in the second round. Asked what she knows about Peers, Clijsters humorously replied, "That she's a 19-year-old Australian."

Caro prevails for 3rd New Haven crown

On Saturday night she went the absolute distance to beat Elena Dementieva in the semifinals, and Sunday she continued to show why she could be the next No.1 player in the world. Caroline Wozniacki won her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour-leading fourth title of the season at the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale, beating Nadia Petrova in the final,
6-3 3-6 6-3.

Wozniacki, the No.1 seed and undefeated two-time defending champion at the Premier-level event, was leading 6-3 2-0 when Petrova's power game started hitting its mark; she took the second set and pulled off another mini-comeback with Wozniacki leading 4-1 in the third set, breaking back and closing to 4-3. But Wozniacki was too tough in the end, playing two strong games to win her fourth title of the year and the 10th of her blossoming career.

Wozniacki maintained her perfect record in New Haven, now at 13-0 (5-0 to win in 2008, 5-0 to win in 2009 and 3-0 to win this year, a first round bye and quarterfinal walkover from Flavia Pennetta cutting her hours this year).

"Today was especially tough because yesterday I finished really late," Wozniacki said. "In the second set Nadia started hitting some nice winners, and she broke my serve straight away. I just needed to keep focused.

"The crowd has been amazing here, cheering me on. Yesterday I was down and they got me through it. It's a great feeling. I love this tournament - it has been great preparation for me the last couple of years. I'd love to come back."

Wozniacki has now won her last two tournaments - Montréal and New Haven - and three of her last four, including Copenhagen. Her only loss of the summer came to Marion Bartoli in the third round of Cincinnati.

Caro improves to 12-0 in New Haven

She came into New Haven having won only one of four matches in the summer hardcourt swing, but at the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale it has all come together. Nadia Petrova fought back from a first set blowout to beat Maria Kirilenko, 2-6 6-2 6-2, and reach the 20th final of her career.

Petrova, the No.8 seed, lost the first set to her fellow Russian in 39 minutes, dropping her big serve twice; but she would not be broken again the rest of the match, dominating her service games and upping the aggression on her return.

"Even if you have pain, you have to try. I decided to continue," said Kirilenko, who was treated for a low back injury during the match. "I was in pain in the first set, but I won it because she was making a lot of mistakes. She was missing the first ball, the second ball. It was good for me. But then she started to play better. I'm playing well and to get this out of nowhere is always sad."

"When Maria called for the physio, those couple of minutes did very well for me," Petrova said. "I saw she was struggling and believed I could come back and win. I had a good conversation with my coach. I cut down on my mistakes and focused a lot on my serve. I felt I started playing the right game."

Petrova almost didn't play in New Haven, but received a last minute invite. "It's amazing. I got a phone call from Anne Worcester late Friday afternoon. I was still in Montréal, about to leave the hotel and fly to New York. Then suddenly she offered me that last wildcard. It was a great gift. I was very happy. I'm sure my team was also excited to come for an extra tournament before the Open."

At night, No.1 seed and two-time defending champion Caroline Wozniacki improved to 12-0 lifetime at New Haven with a 1-6 6-3 76(5) triumph over No.4 seed Elena Dementieva, rallying from 5-3 down in the third set to win.

"The crowd really helped me today. It wasn't easy," Wozniacki said. "This is a great tournament. Obviously I'm playing well here. I'm really happy to be in the finals again, the third time in a row. Hopefully I can win the last match here."

Wozniacki leads Petrova in their head-to-head, 2-1, with Wozniacki retiring from their first encounter in 2008 but winning both of their matches in 2010.

Elena struggles into semis. Kirilenko Beats Safina

A day before she said it was "a great opportunity", and she certainly meant it. In just 53 minutes Nadia Petrova sent the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale's No.2 seed Samantha Stosur packing in a hurry, 6-2 6-1.

Petrova, seeded No.8, was broken in the first game of the match but was almost perfect on serve from there, losing a total of just three points in her other six service games and breaking the big-serving Stosur five times. Petrova has now beaten Stosur in straight sets in all four of their career meetings.

"It seemed surprising, those are the right words," Petrova said. "I know Sam well. We played the first six months of the year in doubles and I got a lot of time to practice with her, so I know her game well, her strengths and weaknesses.

"Today I was really in charge of the game and didn't give her any chances to come back. I just kept the pressure on and tried to make her come up with a better shot. I'm very happy with my serve and didn't give out many free points."

"We both had our game plans, except she executed hers a lot better than me today," Stosur said. "I got off to a good start. She can ride on confidence really well though, and when she feels she's in front and can control what's going on, she's very hard to stop. She played quite well and I didn't play very well, so me winning only three games is probably a mixture of those two things."

Next up for Petrova is Maria Kirilenko, who ended the run of former No.1 Dinara Safina with a 6-3 6-3 win. Safina had beaten No.3 seed Francesca Schiavone and Daniela Hantuchova before running into Kirilenko, who has been creeping up the rankings all year and is approaching the Top 20 again.

"It's difficult for Dinara to come back. Before she was more aggressive, but now she's making longer points, and it's not hurting you as much," Kirilenko said. "I played well today, not many mistakes and very consistent. Everything was perfect today, except my serve. I missed too many first serves."

Petrova and Kirilenko are tied in their head-to-head, 3-3. This will be their first meeting on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in almost exactly two years.

In the other semifinal, No.1 seed Caroline Wozniacki will play No.4 seed Elena Dementieva. Wozniacki advanced to the semifinals when No.7 seed Flavia Pennetta had to withdraw due to a right foot injury; Dementieva battled for three hours to get past No.6 seed Marion Bartoli, 6-3 3-6 6-2.

"I never like to withdraw but my foot has been bothering me since last week and I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the match; I decided to pull out and not risk any further damage," Pennetta said. "The good news is there's no stress fracture. The toe on my right foot is just very inflamed. With some rest and lots of physiotherapy in the next few days, I hope to be ready for the US Open."

Dementieva leads Wozniacki in their head-to-head, 3-2.

Sweet Caroline.

Fresh off her third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title of the year in Montréal, Caroline Wozniacki kept the streak alive Wednesday night, beating Dominika Cibulkova in her opener at the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale.


Wozniacki, the No.1 seed and two-time defending champion at the Premier-level tournament, had a slow start against the former Top 15 player, finding herself down 4-2 in the first set; she would wrestle control of the match from that point though, winning 10 of the next 11 games of the match for a 6-4 6-1 victory.

"I was telling myself, 'I want to play, move your feet, come on, let's go,'" said the No.2-ranked Wozniacki, who received treatment on her back at 3-4 in the first set. "I didn't want to play three sets, I wanted to win in two."

Wozniacki saved her best for last too - serving for the win at 6-4 5-1, she won three of her four points with big aces. Afterwards, Wozniacki had a photo opp with Yale's football team: "They're really nice guys. That they came and supported me today was just fun. We should make this a tradition."

Wozniacki is now 12-1 since Wimbledon, the only loss coming to Marion Bartoli in the third round of Cincinnati. She is also a perfect 11-0 in New Haven, winning back-to-back titles at the combined event in 2008 and 2009.

Next for Wozniacki is No.7 seed Flavia Pennetta. Wozniacki is 4-0 head-to-head against Pennetta, although three of those wins came in three sets.

Safina sets up QF clash with Kirilenko

Russian Elena Dementieva moved into the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen tournament with 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-4 win over Kateryna Bondarenko.

Dementieva says she rested for four weeks after tearing a left calf muscle during the French Open and is excited about getting in more matches before next week's U.S. Open.

She will face Marion Bartoli, who defeated Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday. Flavia Pennetta also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Olga Govortsova of Bellarus.

Other winners in the afternoon were No.7 seed Flavia Pennetta, No.8 seed Nadia Petrova, Maria Kirilenko and Dinara Safina. Pennetta beat Olga Govortsova, 63 62. "I didn't play my best, but I was consistent and didn't make many mistakes," Pennetta said. "I'm happy to be through to the next round."

The last time Kirilenko and Safina Played, Safina was still struggling with her back, and now seemes to be getting her way back to world's eliete, Kirilenko prevailed in that match 5-4 after safina retired. Kirilenko had a very strong win over Timea Bacsinszky smashing the swiss player 6-3 6-1.

My picks for the semis are:

Wozniacki against Bartoli
and
Kirilenko against Petrova

Stosur saves 4 match points to win in 3rd set tie-break

At night the first second round match took the court, with No.2 seed Samantha Stosur saving four match points to escape Sara Errani, 6-1 3-6 7-6(4). Errani served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, holding her first two match points at 40-15 then another two on ad points right after it got back to deuce; Stosur kept on fighting though and eventually closed the nail-biter out in the breaker.

Kirilenko takes out 2009 New Haven finalist in first round.

Elena Vesnina lost to Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 Tuesday in the first round of the Pilot Pen tennis tournament, a year after making it to the finals.

Despite her runner-up status, Vesnina had to go through qualifying to get into the tournament, arriving from Montreal on Saturday just two hours before her first match. She played and won three matches over the weekend to earn her way into this year's main draw.

Kirilenko said both players had trouble with the strong winds that swirled through the stadium court, and she switched rackets after losing her feel for the ball in the second set.

"I started to make a lot of double faults, and my serve didn't work at all," she said. "In the third set, my serve started to feel better."

On the grandstand court, Marion Bartoli of France needed three sets to get by Alona Bondarenko 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3. Bartoli said the wind, which was gusting at times over 20 mph, didn't allow her to be as aggressive as she would have liked.

"I was aiming in the middle and my ball was ending up 10 centimetres from the baseline or from the right or left line," she said.

Ffifth-seeded Yanina Wickmayer, of Belgium, succumbed to Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-1 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale.

Seventh-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta reached the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 decision against Russian Alisa Kleybanova.

Wozniacki, this week's top seed, is the two-time reigning New Haven champ and fresh off her title in Montreal on Monday.

The 2010 Pilot Pen champion will collect $98,500.

Caro shines after the Rain

She struggled early in the week but once the going got tough, Caroline Wozniacki got going. The No.2-ranked player in the world beat two of Russia's best back-to-back on Monday for her third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title of the year, and the ninth of her career, at the Rogers Cup.

Wozniacki, the No.2 seed at the Premier-level stop, had close encounters with Patty Schnyder and Flavia Pennetta in her first two matches of the week, scoring 7-5 7-5 and 4-6 6-3 6-1 wins. From the quarterfinals on she had few problems though - at least not with anything match-related. She avenged a French Open quarterfinal loss to Francesca Schiavone, 6-3 6-2, to start.

On Saturday she won the first two games on Svetlana Kuznetsova when rain stopped play, and that rain would keep going for two days. On Monday the final four took Uniprix Stadium's courts and Wozniacki shone, completing a 6-2 6-3 win over Kuznetsova then easing past No.8 seed Vera Zvonareva, 6-3 6-2.

Wozniacki, who has also won titles this season from Ponte Vedra Beach and Copenhagen, is just the second player to win three Tour titles this year, alongside Kim Clijsters. Fittingly, Wozniacki and Clijsters also finished last year's summer hardcourt season on a high note, meeting in the US Open final; they will also be the Top 2 seeds at the final Grand Slam of the year this year.

Zvonareva beat an injury-hampered Clijsters en route to her 24th career final; she is now 10-14 in those. She beat Victoria Azarenka in the other semifinal.