Williams sisters celebrate Gibson with opening wins
NEW YORK -- Venus and Serena Williams carry Althea Gibson's legacy forward every time they step on a court, every time they hoist a Grand Slam trophy.
So on a night set aside to honor the 50th anniversary of the first U.S National Championship title for a black tennis player, the Williams sisters figured the best way to celebrate Gibson was to win.
Simple as that, they did.
Venus Williams beat Kira Nagy of Hungary 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday -- and hit a Grand Slam-record 129 mph serve in the process. Serena Williams topped out at 126 mph and had only slightly more trouble getting past Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 7-5.
"I have all the opportunities today because of people like Althea," Venus Williams said. "Just trying to follow in her footsteps."
The siblings narrated a video that opened the tribute to Gibson, who was the first black man or woman to enter (in 1950) and to win (in 1957) Wimbledon and the tournament that's now called the U.S. Open.
In 1999, Serena Williams became the first black woman since Gibson to win the U.S. Open. The next year, Venus Williams became the first black woman since Gibson to win Wimbledon.
It actually was a pretty good day for Americans, including Ahsha Rolle, a 22-year-old playing in her third Grand Slam match. She surprised No. 17-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, also under the lights.
So was John Isner. Nothing about him is subtle. Everything about him is super-sized, from his 6-foot-9 frame to his 140 mph serves.
Add in large expectations, too, which will only increase now that Isner played the very first Grand Slam match of his nascent career Monday and won it. Fresh out of college, Isner smacked 34 aces to knock off 26th-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-4.
No. 1 seeds Roger Federer and Justine Henin advanced rather easily in straight sets, as did No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, who then talked about the gambling probe surrounding a match he played early this month.
"It's pretty tough, mentally, to play," said Davydenko, a semifinalist last year, who encountered little trouble in a 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Jesse Levine, another American wild card.
Trying to become the first man in the Open era to take this title four straight times, Federer hels serve all match and beat qualifier Scoville Jenkins 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.