NEW YORK — Third-seeded Maria Sharapova’s slow start almost turned into an early exit at the U.S. Open.
The three-time major champion picked up her game in time to avoid an upset against 102nd-ranked Heather Watson, rallying for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory Monday in the opening round.
Sharapova improved to 12-0 this year in third sets.
“In the end, that’s kind of where it counts,” she said after a match that lasted 2 hours, 34 minutes. “No matter how tired or whether you’re playing your best tennis or sometimes your worst, you keep fighting for it.”
Not showing the same kind of fight was fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova, who became the first reigning Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round of the U.S. Open. She made 52 unforced errors in a 7-6 (3), 6-3 loss to Alexandra Dulgheru.
In other matches:
• Playing her first match in two months, Venus Williams powered her way to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Russian Vesna Dolonts, who caught a 4 a.m. EDT flight from Moscow because of Tropical Storm Irene.
• Madison Keys, a 16-year- old from Boca Raton, Fla., became the youngest player since 2005 to win a U.S. Open match by beating 37-year-old Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-4.
• Mardy Fish, seeking to become the first American man to win a major since Andy Roddick won in New York in 2003, lived up to his No. 8 seeding with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Tobias Kamke of Germany.
The Associated Press
