The former world no. 1 dominated from the very beginning, punching a barrage of winners to storm to 4-0 in the opening set in just 19 minutes.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 26: Venus Williams of United States looks to return a shot during her women's singles first round match against Shuai Zhang of China during day one of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 26, 2019 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Mike Stobe/Getty Images for USTA/AFP
Two-time champion Venus Williams dropped just one game in a flawless first-round performance against China’s Zheng Saisai to kick off her 2019 US Open campaign.
On Monday, Williams drew from her rich experience against Zheng, destroying her opponent 6-1, 6-0 in just one hour and six minutes, reports Xinhua news agency.
The former world no. 1 dominated from the very beginning, punching a barrage of winners to storm to 4-0 in the opening set in just 19 minutes.
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Zheng, who lifted her first-ever WTA trophy in career in San Jose WTA tournament earlier this month, finally held serve in the sixth game, but she was unable to maintain the momentum in the next game, wasting two breaking points before losing the set at 6-1.
It was one-way traffic in the second set for the 39-year-old American, who broke three times to reel off the next six games in a row. Williams remained unbroken during the entire match, and she struck 25 winners to Zheng’s six en route to the victory.
Coming up next for Williams in the second round will be No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
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