Venus Williams, Raducanu, Osaka all out in US Open 1st round

New York: The welcome and support for Venus Williams in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday afternoon were not the same as they were for her sister, Serena, a night earlier. Nor was the result.

Venus, who turned 42 in June, has not made any pronouncements about her future in tennis, unlike her younger sibling, and while she has been successful and influential, too a seven-time Grand Slam champion; a Black woman in a predominantly white sport the fanfare and attention are not the same.

Playing in front of thousands of empty blue seats in an arena quite silent at the start, although growing louder later, Venus bowed out in the first round of the U.S. Open for the second consecutive appearance, losing 6-1, 7-6 (5) to Alison Van Uytvanck.

She means so much to female tennis. Tennis, in general, Van Uytvanck said. She's a legend.

This was the 23rd trip to Flushing Meadows for Venus, who made it to the final in 1997 as a teen then won the trophy in 2000 and 2001, and her record 91st time participating in a major

tournament.

Venus had never lost in the opening round at the U.S. Open until 2020, then was absent last year.

At night, Emma Raducanu became only the third defending U.S. Open champion to lose in the first round, eliminated by Aliz Cornet 6-3, 6-3. And yet another past champ bowed out in straight sets when Naomi Osaka, who won two of her four Grand Slam titles in New York, was eliminated by Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a match that ended after midnight.

Osaka, a former No. 1, also lost in the first round of the French Open this year and has slid to 44th in the rankings. She had been 3-0 head-to-head against Collins, but this fun-to-watch, hard-hitting matchup went the other way.

When you lose to somebody three times, said the 19th-seeded Collins, who has struggled with injuries this season, you have nothing to lose, so I tried to go for it and hope for the best.