Despite boasting 34 grand slam singles titles between them, Serena Williams and Roger Federer were forced to share the spotlight with a 15-year-old at the US Open on Tuesday as all three advanced to the second round.
American wild card Catherine Bellis, the youngest player in the draw, took her place alongside the five-times US champions by stunning 12th seeded Australian Open finalist Dominica Cibulkova 6-1 4-6 6-4.
The second-seeded Federer, looking to extend his record men’s haul of slam titles to 18, posted a 6-3 6-4 7-6 demolition of Australian Marinko Matosevic as the 33-year-old’s boyhood idol Michael Jordan of basketball fame looked on.
“He was just my hero of all sports,” said Federer, who has collaborated with Jordan on a sneakers design.
“Besides (Stefan) Edberg and (Boris) Becker being my tennis idols, I had Jordan as my all-sports idol.”
Williams advanced 6-3 6-1 over unseeded fellow American Taylor Townsend as she followed Federer onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium court to cap the second day of the championships.
Should she go on to win the tournament, Williams would join Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in fourth place on the all-time list of women’s grand slam singles champions with 18 titles apiece.
“Hopefully, I can just build on this,” said Williams, who has had a disappointing slam season with her best result a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open back in January.
Margaret Court (24), Steffi Graf (22) and Helen Wills Moody (19) are the only three women to have won more grand slam titles.
Other leading contenders were keen to display their skills at Flushing Meadows.
Encouraging start
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and runner-up Eugenie Bouchard launched their Open campaigns with a bang, blasting by their respective first-round opponents with a minimum of fuss.
They were joined in the second round by eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic, Flavia Pennetta, Victoria Azarenka and 2011 champion Sam Stosur, but the biggest jolt of energy was supplied by Bellis.
Playing on the secondary Court Six, the teenager added her name to the record books by becoming the youngest female to win a match at the US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
“I went into the match thinking it was going to be such a great experience,” said the pony-tailed Bellis, who received her wild card when she became the youngest player to win the girls’ 18s national championships since Lindsay Davenport in 1991.
“But I never thought I would come out on top. I’m still in shock about that match.”
Kvitova crushed Kristina Mladenovic 6-1 6-0, while Bouchard was nearly as efficient in dismissing Olga Govor-tsova 6-2 6-1.
Kvitova fell at the first hurdle here after winning her first Wimbledon crown in 2011.
“The other grand slams are a big challenge for me right now. I remember 2011 when I lost my first round after winning Wimbledon, so I’m just glad that I’m better already,” she said with a smile.
On the men’s side, 10th seed Kei Nishikori of Japan, 13th-seeded American John Isner and 25th seed Ivo Karlovic, of Croatia, were among first-round winners.
Nishikori dismissed American wild card Wayne Odesnik, while Isner ousted compatriot Marcos Giron and Karlovic eliminated Jarkko Nieminen, of Finland.
Radwanska out
• Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska became the first major casualty of the US Open when she was dumped out in the second round by Peng Shuai, yesterday.
Radwanska dropped just one game in a first-round win over Sharon Fichman but world no.39 Peng was a deserved 6-3 6-4 winner.