Venus Williams, Nadal, Henin Advance; Favourites Keep Rolling at U.S. Open

Aug 29, 07:05 PM

Current Headlines: By BEN WALKER

NEW YORK (AP) - Rafael Nadal recovered from a slow start, Venus Williams overcame a few glitches and Justine Henin ran right into the next round Wednesday at a U.S. Open where the favourites kept rolling.

Nadal dropped the first six points of his match against No. 123 Alun Jones and later called out a trainer to check on his shaky knees. The second-seeded Spaniard eventually hit his stride and, once again relying on his legs, moved into the second round 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

"I have to improve in the knees so much more if I'm going to continue in the tournament," Nadal said.

Williams had some speed bumps - six double-faults, 20 unforced errors - in beating Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania 6-4, 6-2.

After launching a Grand Slam-record 129 mph serve in her opening match, Williams reached a top speed of 124 mph and had to be content with only one ace. The two-time Open winner and current Wimbledon champ moved into the third round.

"I want to be the last one standing with a plate over my head," Williams said. "I'm not stressed out on a few shots. Feel a little wiser."

Henin also advanced into the third round, defeating Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-0.

The top-seeded Belgian, bidding for her seventh major title, broke Pironkova's spirit midway through the final set.

Caught close to the net, Henin raced back to the baseline, her legs churning at a full speed for a shot that won her the point. Pironkova flipped her racket in the air, then tried to catch it and missed.

"I know I have to work hard because I know a lot of surprises can happen, even if it looks easy," Henin said. "You have to be careful all the time."

Former Open champion Marat Safin, crowd pleaser Ana Ivanovic, No. 8 Tommy Robredo, No. 10 Marion Bartoli, No. 11 Mikhail Youzhny, No. 14 Elena Dementieva, No. 17 Carlos Moya and No. 19 Sybille Bammer also won in straight sets.

"Hopefully, it'll continue this way and keep it short," Safin said.

Safin beat Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., 7-5, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7), eliminating the sole Canadian from the men's singles draw.

Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., fell in straight sets to Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain on Tuesday, leaving Toronto's Daniel Nestor as the only Canadian still alive in the men's doubles draw.

Tim Henman, playing his final Grand Slam event, also advanced. The unseeded Brit beat No. 27 Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic were scheduled later in the day.

Ninth-ranked Daniela Hantuchova was the lone player in the upper echelon to lose during the first three days. In all, it was an early breeze for those at the top.

A night earlier, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick overpowered their opponents. Former champions Lleyton Hewitt, Martina Hingis and Svetlana Kuznetsova also won in straight sets.

The fifth-seeded Ivanovic defeated Aravane Rezai of France 6-3, 6-1. Popular on and off the court, her victory came a day after she received an unusual request from a fan.

"I was signing autographs after practice, the guy asked me to sign his forehead. I was like, are you kidding?" she said.

"I didn't," she said. "I felt bad for him walking with a sign. I say, 'I can sign your ball or shirt, but forehead?"'

Robredo beat Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-1 and Youzhny defeated Nicolas Devilder of France 6-0, 6-1, 6-2. In the women's draw, Dementieva beat Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-2 and Bammer downed Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 6-3.

Other ranked players to lose were No. 28 Ai Sugiyama of Japan, beaten by Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, and No. 30 Potito Starace of Italy, defeated by Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-5, 7-6 (4).