NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Defending champ Kim Clijsters and third-seeded Venus Williams each posted opening-round wins at the U.S. Open Monday.
Clijsters registered a 6-0, 7-5 decision over Hungarian Greta Arn, rebounding from an 0-4 hole in the second set to take seven of the next eight games and advance at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
The Belgian is seeking her third U.S. Open championship after downing Caroline Wozniacki in last year's final. She also took the title in 2005 but skipped the 2006-08 tourneys due to retirement or injury.
Williams, meanwhile, notched a 6-4, 6-1 triumph over Italian Roberta Vinci, collecting 10 aces and winning 83 percent of her first-serve points.
Fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur rallied to beat Russian Elena Vesnina 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, and No. 6 seed Francesca Schiavone pounded Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-0 in other first-round action.
Former U.S. Open runner-up Elena Dementieva breezed past Belarusian Olga Govortsova 6-1, 6-2, and No. 16 seed Shahar Peer of Israel downed Croat Jelena Kostanic Tosic 6-4, 7-5.
