Unseeded Venus wins first-round match

Venus Williams has been a ghostly figure this season. Injury and illness have kept the former Open champion away from the game for most of the year.

So while her sister Serena has launched a successful comeback from injury this summer with two hardcourt victories, Venus is trying to do the same thing here at the Open, where she is an unseeded player. She won her opening match Monday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, beating Vesna Dolonts of Russia, 6-4, 6-3.

"It's great to be back in New York," she told the fans immediately after the match. "It's tough because this is my first match since Wimbledon. I tried my best to be on the ball tonight. My serve is a huge part of my game, and I want to follow that up with a lot of aggressive play, and it was great to see those balls land in."

At the start of the year, Williams withdrew from a third-round match at the Australian Open with a right hip injury that keep her out for the month of February. Then it was reported in March that she had an abdominal injury. That kept her out until June when she returned for the grasscourt season and lost in the quarterfinals at Eastbourne and in the fourth round at Wimbledon. She didn't play in July and pulled out of tournaments in August with a viral illness. She did play a few sets this summer for the Washington Kastles of World Team Tennis.

Melanie Oudin, the darling of the 2009 Open, continued her downward spiral with a 6-0, 7-6 (7) loss to Romina Oprandi of Italy, a qualifier. She says she might return to playing Challenger events in the fall to get in more match time and get the confidence she needs to equal her run to the quarterfinals here in 2009 that included a victory over Maria Sharapova.

"I'm not going to forget what happened here," Oudin said of the highlight of her career.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova went out without much of a fight, beaten by Alexandra Dulgheru, 7-6 (3), 6-3.