Sloppy Venus Williams narrowly escapes upset bid from Kateryna Kozlova at U.S. Open

NEW YORK—Day 2 at the U.S. Open saw Venus Williams repeat her early-round patterns of last year. The two-time U.S. Open champion took on world No. 93 Kateryna Kozlova in her first-round match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, and escaped, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

“Today I had to hit a lot of balls,” Williams said. “So I’m thinking that’ll help me going through the rest of the tournament, [by] having to be in tough positions. I’m going to try to keep that momentum.”

Before the 36-year-old played sister Serena in an epic quarterfinal battle at Flushing Meadows last year, she was pushed to three sets in both her first- and second-round matches (against Monica Puig and Irina Falconi, respectively). She lost the middle set in a tiebreaker on both occasions.

On Tuesday afternoon, when Williams and Kozlova took the court, they couldn't have been more opposite—in height, age, ranking, experience and even clothing style.

As expected from a player just barely ranked inside the Top 100—who has never played on Arthur Ashe Stadium—Kozlova had trouble getting on the board. For Kozlova to have a chance, she would need to extend the points and push Williams onto her heels. Instead, Kozlova started off hesitant, while Williams handily raced ahead to a 4-0 lead.

The 22-year-old Ukrainian had only played one main-draw U.S. Open match previously—a first-round loss to Bethanie Mattek-Sands last year—and she cracked the Top 100 for the first time two months ago. Williams’ U.S. Open record pens a vastly different history, with 60 wins and 14 losses.

The world No. 6 had a chance to serve it out at 5-1, but a drop in her level led to too many unforced errors, giving her younger opponent the game, and some hope. Kozlova had to do something extra special on every single point to excite the sleepy, late-afternoon crowd.

It wouldn’t happen in the first set. With a smashing overhead, Williams sealed the set comfortably, 6-2.

Just like in the first set, Williams raced ahead 3-0 in the second. But she let up just enough to let Kozlova into the match, again committing too many unforced errors. The Ukrainian moves exceptionally well, often sliding like Novak Djokovic, and her attitude throughout the match was exceptionally positive.

Getting more than one ball back each point began working, as Kozlova clawed back to 2-3. Despite dropping the next game, she broke again for 3-4. Even at 4-5, Kozlova simply refused to give up, and instead of playing timid, she began dictating points with greater authority. Her hard work was rewarded with three straight games, and she took the set 7-5. Williams didn’t help matters; she finished the set with 26 unforced errors (up from 17 in the first) to Kozlova’s 13.

“I just wanted to continue to play aggressive, and I think the errors told the story today,” Williams said. “I had so many errors. I want to play aggressively, but I want to get those balls in. So I’m going to try to change that in the second round.”

All of a sudden, Williams was in the exact same position that she was in last year. She stayed calm (as always, really) and let her younger opponent get overwhelmed by the moment. Williams leapt ahead 5-2, with her signature pounding ground strokes back on track.

Kozlova did not go away quietly, though, fighting back with brave plays to cut it to 4-5. The underdog put up a great fight, but in Williams’ 18th U.S. Open appearance, the iconic American earned her 18th first-round win.

“It was always hard,” Williams said. “It was never easy. Your opponents always play so well. Once you’re at this level, everybody can play … But I’m grateful for that record.”

She’ll carry that record into the second round, where she’ll meet Julia Goerges.