NEW YORK – One day after older sister Venus pulled out of the US Open with an illness, Serena Williams put a hurting on Michaella Krajicek.
Considered a favorite to win her fourth title on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Williams powered her way into the third round, crushing her Dutch foe 6-0 6-1.
Roger Federer found a little more resistance in his second-round men’s match, but not a lot more as he toppled Israel’s Dudi Sela 6-3 6-2 6-2.
“Not much trouble on my serve, and from the baseline I also thought I had the upper hand,” said Federer, who is seeking his sixth US Open crown. “When it’s like that, obviously it’s tough for the opponent, but I just think I was superior today.”
No. 7 Gael Monfils of France was the highest men’s seed to be ousted when he fell to Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (5) 5-7 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4.
Because injuries and illnesses have kept her out of tennis for most of the past year, Williams was seeded only 28th this year. Yet she is the favorite over top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, who has yet to win a Grand Slam tournament title.
The defending US Open women’s champion, Kim Clijsters, who also captured the Australian Open in January, is not here because of injuries. Also on the sideline are French Open champion Li Na of China and Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, ensuring there will be a fourth different Grand Slam tournament women’s champion in 2011.
It wasn’t as if Williams was facing a strong foe. This was Krajicek’s first Grand Slam tournament main draw since Wimbledon in 208, and she had reached the second round at a major for the first time since the US Open four years ago.
Williams, on the other hand, showed the game that took her to two tournament titles this year and raised her ranking from the high 100s to 29th in the world – that low simply because of the paucity of matches played in the last year.
“I just hope to keep my errors down and keep making my shots, and hopefully I will be able to win five more matches,” Williams said. “If not, I’m still happy to be there.”
That’s because she wasn’t at last year’s US Open. A series of injuries and illnesses kept her out of tennis for 11 months, and she missed three Grand Slam tournaments during that time. Williams returned to the sport in June and didn’t win her first title of 2011 until Sanford. She followed that by capturing the hard-court warm-up event in Toronto, then pulled out of Cincinnati with an injury after winning her opener.
Krajicek just found herself in another league against Williams.
“I told her after the match welcome back,” Williams said. “I know she’s been going through a really tough time. … I hope she doesn’t get discouraged because she’s played well.
“She never gave up today no matter what the score looked like. I thought it was a really tough match. It was good for her and, you know, she’s still young. Her whole life is ahead of her.”
With his victory, Federer moved into second place behind Jimmy Connors with 225 Grand Slam tournament wins, snapping a tie with Andre Agassi. Connors leads with a 233-49 win-loss record.
“It was a good match for me in breezy conditions,” said Federer. “It was a bit tricky early on to find the rhythm. That’s why I was happy to get the first break in the first set.”
From then on it was close to a rout as Sela had nothing in his arsenal to threaten the Swiss master. It was Federer who was controlling the points, determining the speed and length of the rallies, and then usually finishing them off with a winner. In all, Federer had 31 winners, 21 more than Sela, and wound up winning 83 points to just 48 for his Israeli opponent.
In Ferrero, Monfils faced a strong foe. Currently ranked 105th in the world, the Spaniard is playing his first Grand Slam tournament this year, having missed the Australian Open while recovering from surgery, the French Open with a shoulder injury and Wimbledon with an unspecified injury.
But Ferrero was a finalist on the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2003, losing to Andy Roddick, and won Roland Garros in the same. In September 2003, he was ranked No. 1 in the world.
The acrobatic Monfils couldn’t match the firepower off the ground that carried Ferrero to victory. Whenever Monfils appeared ready to take charge of the match, Ferrero came up with the correct answer.
In defeat, Monfils won over the audience with his crowd-please style of play, diving for shots and chasing down every ball. When the match ended, the crowd gave Monfils a standing ovation.
“It was like very lovely,” the Frenchman said of the crowd’s response. “It was a good feeling. Even though I lost the match, it was a good feeling.”