Venus Williams of the United States reacts during the women's singles first round match between Venus Williams ofthe United States and Zheng Saisai of China at the 2019 US Open in New York, the United States, Aug. 26, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
NEW YORK, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Two-time champion Venus Williams dropped just one game in a flawless first-round performance against China's Zheng Saisai to kick off her 2019 US Open campaign on Monday.
Former world No. 1 Williams drew from her rich experience against Zheng, destroying her opponent 6-1, 6-0 in just one hour and six minutes.
"I was happy with today, so I'm not going to ask for more," Williams said. "Whether the win is easy or whether it's tough, a win is a win. Getting to the next round is about getting the win on your side and building yourself up during the tournament and patting yourself on the back for every good achievement."
"She's playing really well, honestly. Confident, does everything well. So it was great to be able to perform well against her. Good win today," Williams added.
Williams dominated from the very beginning, punching a barrage of winners to storm to 4-0 in the opening set in just 19 minutes.
Zheng, who lifted her first ever WTA trophy in career in San Jose WTA tournament earlier this month, finally held serve in the sixth game, but she was unable to maintain the momentum in the next game, wasting two breaking points before losing the set at 6-1.
It was one-way traffic in the second set for the 39-year-old American, who broke three times to reel off the next six games in a row. Williams remained unbroken during the entire match, and she struck 25 winners to Zheng's six en route to the victory.
Zheng said: "Venus played unbelievable today. It's a tough match. It's just her day, and I can't do too much. She has everything, serve big and return well. I have to serve really good angle, or she will return deep and play really aggressive."
"She's an all-time great. I have deep respect for her. She is one of the best players and can still compete at a high level. It's really hard to play against her, she's going for every ball.
"I played my best and I tried hard, hoping to win a couple of games, but it did not work," added Zheng, who jumped to a career-high 37th in the world ranking last week.
In spite of the loss, the 25-year-old Zheng said she's confident with her game. "Maybe I play bad in this tournament, but next tournament I will come back. I'm not gonna rush anymore. Even if I lost the match, I know I can play my game. I need to stay healthy and be patient," she added.
Coming up next for Williams in the second round will be No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
