Serena Williams fought a keenly contested battle to overcome Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus to reach the Western and Southern Open third round in New York.
The younger of the Williams Sisters, Serena, 38, stopped Rus from serving out the match at 6 – 5 before going on to win 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-6 (7-0) in almost three hours.
Two-time champion Williams will face Greece’s 13th seed Maria Sakkari in the third round.
Fourth seed Naomi Osaka of Japan beat Karolina Muchova 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2.
The world number 10 featured in her first match since the WTA resumed after it was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Osaka will face 16th seed Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska in round three.
Williams who is known for her stellar performances appeared to struggle in the New York heat in the second set. The mother of one failed to serve out victory at 5-3 in the deciding set.
“It was a real physical match,” said 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams.
“I played pretty well, I was being aggressive and hit some good shots, but she just kept fighting.”
Williams who is ranked ninth in the world will be looking for her 24th Grand Slam title to equal the current record when the US Open starts on 31 August at Flushing Meadows.
It will be the first major since the professional tours resumed earlier this month, having been suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Western and Southern Open is usually held in Cincinnati but has been moved to Flushing Meadows to create a two-tournament safety bubble.
Williams, seeded third, is the highest-ranked player left in the draw after Czech top seed Karolina Pliskova and American Sofia Kenin lost their opening matches.
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