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Venus Williams loses 3rd-set tiebreaker at US Open

Source: Agencies | August 29, 2013, Thursday | Online Edition

After her latest early Grand Slam exit, Venus Williams was asked what the future holds for her at the US Open.

In one breath, Williams brushed aside the unspoken reference to retirement, saying, "I definitely want to come back for the atmosphere."

And in the next, she added, "I mean, next year's Open is so far away right now."

At 33, slowed the past couple of years by an autoimmune disease that saps energy, and hampered much of this season by a bad back, Williams knows by now that such queries are going to arrive, particularly after results such as her 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5) loss to 56th-ranked Zheng Jie of China on a wet yesterday at Flushing Meadows. It is the third year in a row that the two-time champion is out of the US Open after two rounds.

"If I didn't think I had anything in the tank, I wouldn't be here," said Williams, who was ranked No. 1 in 2002 and is currently 60th. "I feel like I do, and that's why I'm here."

The American acquitted herself well for stretches, erasing deficits over and over again, until she simply ran out of solutions against Zheng, a former top-15 player and twice a major semifinalist.

In what she took as an encouraging sign, Williams was out there for 3 hours, 2 minutes, tying for the fifth-longest women's match since 1970 at the US Open. The third set alone lasted 1½ hours.

Near the finish line, she faltered. On the final two points, Williams missed a volley, then a return. She wound up with 44 unforced errors in all, half on forehands, in part because Zheng kept scrambling along the baseline to get to balls and block them back, making Williams hit extra shots.

Rain began falling in the early afternoon, jumbling the schedule, and eight women's singles matches were postponed entirely, including Williams' younger sister Serena against Galina Voskoboeva. More than four hours of delays during the day meant 2012 champion Andy Murray did not play his first point of the tournament until 9:55 pm, making for the third-latest start to a US Open night session.

Men were playing in the first round, women in the second, and Murray's 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over 49th-ranked Michael Llodra of France began in Arthur Ashe Stadium only after 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro wrapped up a contentious 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory over 74th-ranked Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain that stretched more than four hours.

Murray, who last month became the first British man in 77 years to win Wimbledon, needed only a little more than 1½ hours to get past Llodra, making only five unforced errors while compiling 34 winners.

"I'm very happy everyone stayed behind to watch," Murray told the spectators afterward. "I know it was late, but it made it special to come back to a full house."

Del Potro was irked by his opponent's repeated calls for a trainer to treat his left leg, while Garcia-Lopez kicked a towel and got into an argument with the chair umpire over a ruling to replay a point in the closing tiebreaker.

No. 17 Kevin Anderson of South Africa, No. 20 Andreas Seppi of Italy, No. 21 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 2001 US Open title winner Lleyton Hewitt and 109th-ranked American wild-card entry Tim Smyczek also were among the winners. But No. 16 Fabio Fognini, No. 24 Benoit Paire and No. 29 Jurgen Melzer lost, meaning 10 of the 32 seeded men bowed out in the first round.

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