Venus Williams advanced out of the first-round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday, defeating fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-3, 6-1. Williams, a two-time U.S. Open champion, has struggled since withdrawing from last year's Open with Sjogren's syndrome, not advancing past the second round of any Grand Slam. Venus advances to take on sixth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany who dispatched Great Britain's Anne Keothavong, 6-2, 6-0. Kerber defeated Williams in the third round at the Olympics on Aug. 1.
On the men's side 15th-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada narrowly avoided becoming the first male upset victim of the U.S. Open, needing five sets to top Colombian Santiago Giraldo, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Also advancing on Tuesday afternoon was fifth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who made quick work of Slovakia's Karol Beck, 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2). Sixth-seed Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic also advanced in straight sets, beating Belgium's David Goffin, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. Spain's Nicolas Almagro needed four sets to get past Czech Radek Stepanek.
In men's doubles, the Harrison brothers (Ryan and Christian) upset the 2011 runners-up, the fourth-seeded Polish team of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.
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