NEW YORK – It was another sister act for Serena Williams, just not with her older sibling Venus this time.
Serena needed only 57 minutes to brush aside Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1 6-4 in an opening-round US Open match Tuesday and begin her bid to return to the top of number one ranking in women’s tennis.
With help from the scheduler, both Williams sisters and both Bondarenko sisters were in action on the second day of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament. Venus Williams eliminated Australian Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-3 in a night match, while Alona Bondarenko, the older of the sisters from the Ukraine, advanced with a hard-fought 2-6 6-3 6-2 victory over American Jamea Jackson.
Currently ranked third in the world, Serena Williams could take over the top spot if she wins this two-week extravaganza on the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The winner of eight Grand Slam tournaments, Williams has not been ranked number one since August 10, 2003. Two years ago her ranking dropped to 140th in the world.
But against Bondarenko, Williams showed the form that made her a champion here at Arthur Ashe Stadium in both 1999 and 2002.
“I am just taking it one match at a time,” said Williams, who admitted she played very well, especially in the opening set. “I’m just happy to have this one over with.”
Williams whipped through the first set in 20 minutes, allowing Bondarenko to hold at 15 only in the fifth game. She didn’t drop a point on her serve until the second set.
Bondarenko, currently ranked 46th in the world, had a lot more success in the second set, but Williams always appeared to be in complete control, ready to close it out on her terms. Serena even put an exclamation on the final point of the penultimate game when she held serve with a perfectly executed forehand lob.
[ad#adify-300×250]
“I was surprised I made it,” she admitted. “I typically don’t make forehand lobs and I never practiced them in five years. I don’t even know why I hit that shot. … That was just the wind, I guess.”
She then broke Bondarenko to close out the victory.
Serena has been displaying the game that once had her dominating women’s tennis. At one stretch, in 2002-03, she won four consecutive Grand Slam tournaments – she called it the “Serena Slam.” Then injuries hampered her play and outside interests occupied her time as she struggled on the court.
Yet she and her sister Venus have always been a threat in any tournament in which they have played. Serena showed that in 2007 when, as an unseeded entry ranked 81st in the world, she powered her way to the title, crushing Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-2 in the final. This year her resurgence has continued as she won three consecutive titles, including the Sony Ericsson Championships in Miami, where she dominated top-ranked Justine Henin in the quarterfinals and beat Jelena Jankovic, currently ranked number two in the world, in the title match.
Another injury, this time to her back, forced her to withdraw from her quarterfinal match at Rome. Yet when Wimbledon rolled around, she stormed into the final without dropping a set before falling to her sister in what arguably was their best head-to-head battle.
Serena reached the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics before being ousted by eventual singles champion Elena Dementieva. But she then teamed with sister Venus to win the gold medal in doubles.
“It’s confidence I can take, and I think I did from that because I was really returning and volleying well and I was doing a lot of the things well at the Olympics,” Serena said Tuesday. “I was really confident coming in here.”
Just ask Kateryna Bondarenko.
Alona Bondarenko, at 24 two years older than Kateryna, almost joined her sister on the sideline. But she rallied to win the second set from a hard-hitting Jackson who all of a sudden began spraying her shots everywhere but inside the lines.
In the final set, Jackson and Bondarenko traded service breaks in four straight games before Jackson called for a trainer, who worked on her right leg, an injury that appeared to hamper her movement as she several times just stood on the baseline and watched Bondarenko’s ground strokes sail past her for winners.
Venus Williams had only a few problems in advancing to the second round against Stosur, who is best known for her doubles play. Williams’ powerful strokes for the most part overwhelmed her Australian opponent, and her long legs and arms enabled her to stay in rallies until she either could construct a winner or Stosur made an error.
The Williams sisters met for the US Open title in 2002, a match Serena won. That won’t happen this year. Because of the draw – Serena is seeded fourth, Venus is seventh – if the two do meet it will be in the quarterfinals.