Henin, local faves go through smoothly

Henin-Hardenne will meet Tzipora Obziler of Israel or Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia in the second round.

Against an opponent making her main draw debut at a Grand Slam event, Olympic champion Henin-Hardenne cruised through the first set in just 17 minutes. But the 15-year-old, who won her first Tour title in Vancouver this month in only her third WTA event, showed courage to break the Belgian twice as Henin-Hardenne struggled in the windy conditions. Just when it looked like she might be forced into a deciding set, however, the Belgian8217;s experience proved crucial and a series of unforced errors from Vaidisova gave the top seed victory.

Andre Agassi returned to his favourite hunting ground on Monday to serve up a traditional late-night feast.

After men8217;s top seed Roger Federer and women8217;s third seed Serena Williams had posted impressive first round victories on a muggy day at Flushing Meadows, it was the 34-year-old Agassi who stole the show with a 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over fellow American Robby Ginepri.

It was the sixth time in seven years that the eight-times Grand Slam champion had topped the Bill on the opening night session, and he did not disappoint despite a few anxious moments.

After edging the first-set tiebreak, Agassi, who is bidding for a third U.S. Open title, showed that age has not blunted his groundstrokes as he took his record for night matches at the U.S. Open to 24-3.

Top seed Federer8217;s 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Spain8217;s Albert Costa was routine for the Swiss who is bidding to become the first player since Sweden8217;s Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three Grand Slam titles in the same year. In stifling humidity, the world No.1 started untidily against an opponent who beat him on their two previous meetings, but a Costa double-fault gifted him the first set and he was rarely troubled again.

After second seed Amelie Mauresmo and Jennifer Capriati both eased into the second round of the women8217;s singles, two-times champion Serena showed off her Open credentials with a quickfire 6-1, 6-3 victory over Sandra Kleinova.

Taking to the court in knee-length boots, denim skirt and diamond-studded crop top, the twice former champion showed flashes of her dazzling best during a routine 53-minute victory.

Williams was told beforehand by the USTA that she would only be allowed to wear her boots during the warm-up, but after reverting to more traditional tennis shoes she trampled all over the world number 84.

Capriati, three times a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows, was given an early scare by Chladkova and said she just had to grind it out.

Men8217;s third seed Carlos Moya had to dig deep against 19-year-old American wildcard Brian Baker, losing the first set before coming through 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Reuters