Dementieva, seeded 5th and a gold medalist this year at the Olympics, was the first to emerge to the the second round, beating Akgul Amanmuradova in straight sets, 64 75. Amanmuradova was serving for the set and had two set points, which she didn't have enough strength to close out, as the Russia
n kept fighting and didn't give up."It's very hard not to think about the Olympic Games, and very difficult to refocus and get ready for the Open," Dementieva said. "Yesterday I tried to go to sleep but I couldn't because I was watching the closing ceremony from Beijing. My mind is still there. But first rounds aren't easy and I really had to focus."
Linsday Davenport, a former champion here in 1998, also had an easy first round match, winning to Aleksandra Wozniak, 64 62. The American is now 2-0 in head-to-head result against the Canadian.
"I thought I did pretty well considering I haven't really played since April," said Davenport, who had played one singles match in the last four months because of a nagging right knee injury. "I drew a tough opponent in the first round and I'm happy to have played the way I did and get through with this scoreline."
Kuznetsova, third seeded, had the same ending score as Davenport, gaining victory over Zhang Shuai 64 62.
No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic was featured in the first night match of the US Open, against Coco Vandeweghe of the US, beating the wildcard 63 61.
"I was just excited to go on court and to play my match and get the job done," Jankovic said. "I didn't know my opponent very well. It's always tough to play an opponent who doesn't have anything to lose as well. There were windy conditions out there too. But I did as much as I needed to do to win the match."
Anna Ckahvetadze was the first seed that was surprised by a defeat in the first round, falling to compatriot Ekaterina Makarova, 16 62 63.
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