U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S ROUNDUP

updated 3:39 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2004

NEW YORK - Dressed for a night on the town, Serena Williams was all business in her first match in 4½ weeks.

Williams strode into Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing knee-high black boots, a denim miniskirt, a studded black tank top and dangling earrings. A far cry from the tennis attire of days gone by, to be sure, but then again, Williams’ powerful strokes bear little resemblance to the way the women’s game used to be played.

Showing little sign of her injury-induced layoff, the two-time U.S. Open champion advanced to the second round with ease, overwhelming Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 Monday night.

“I performed at a decent level today. I’m finally getting to a point where I’m actually playing better and focusing better,” Williams said.

A few moments later, asked who her biggest threat in the tournament is, Williams replied: “Myself. I can make it or break it.”

She might have been dressed for a cocktail party or MTV’s Video Music Awards, which she attended last year while skipping the Open shortly after left knee surgery.

Her play Monday was definitely Grand Slam-caliber, though, a step above what fellow major champion Jennifer Capriati.

John Sommers / Reuters Serena Williams warms up for her match against Sandra Kleinova wearing knee-high black boots Monday. She had to take them off for the match because U.S. Open officials told Williams last month that she couldn't wear them during a match.

“Her outfit? I tried not to look at it,” said Kleinova, who wore a navy skirt and white shirt. “It’s her style. She always wears something special.”

Her play was special, too. Williams, seeded No. 3, finished with a remarkable 35-3 edge in winners and saved the only break point she faced with one of her seven aces. That serve was clocked at 108 mph, and she reached 123 mph with another.

“Her serving was pretty good. If she places it really well, like she did tonight, it’s hard to return — even for guys,” Kleinova said.

Williams said last week she’s at 90 to 95 percent, working her way back since pulling out of a tournament at Carlsbad, Calif., in late July because of soreness in her left knee. Williams also missed the Olympics, deciding not to go only hours before the U.S. tennis team’s flight to Greece.

“I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to prepare for this event,” she said. “I’m taking it a day at a time. I’m just so excited to be out here again in New York. It’s been a while.”

After warming up, she had to take off the boots — actually, they ran from the top of her black sneakers to her knees — because U.S. Open officials told Williams last month that she couldn’t wear them during a match. Like Tommy Haas’ sleeveless muscle shirt two years ago, the boots don’t meet the “customary tennis attire” rule, tournament referee Brian Earley and tournament director Jim Curley determined.

Williams termed it her “Rebel Without a Cause” look, and said it should be described as “Serena the Innovator strikes again.” She won the 2002 Open wearing what she called a catsuit, a skintight black Lycra outfit that caused a stir.

“It’s great that Serena has so much confidence to stand out and do something different. She goes beyond tennis,” 1979 and 1981 U.S. Open champion Tracy Austin said. “Tennis needs that. We need the Andre Agassis, the Serena Williams, the Maria Sharapovas, the Andy Roddicks that are willing to stand out and be different.”

Williams has won just one tournament in the last year: in March, at her first event back after 8½ months away because of the operation. She lost to Capriati in the French Open quarterfinals, her earliest exit at a major since 2000. Then, in a big upset, Williams lost the Wimbledon final to Sharapova last month.

In Kleinova, Williams wasn’t exactly facing a contender. Kleinova is just 8-25 this year, and she’s 1-6 for her career at the Open. But players’ fortunes can change as quickly as the direction of the swirling wind at the Open.

Just ask Capriati, who barely played well enough to advance.

Capriati, seeded No. 8, dropped her first set to Denisa Chladkova but then recovered for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Matthew Stockman / Getty Images Eighth-seeded Jennifer Capriati hits a backhand during her 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Denisa Chladkova during the U.S. Open on Monday.

Playing tentatively at first, Capriati struggled early before taking charge.

“It was a little bit scary there in the beginning,” Capriati said. “I had to make some adjustments, trying to find my range a little bit, and the wind was pretty difficult. One side, you would hit the ball, and it seemed like it would go 10 feet out. On the other side, you couldn’t get it past the service line.”

To compensate, Capriati used different rackets at different ends of the court, and whether the edge that provided was real or perceived, it eventually worked.

“She came out firing. I didn’t expect her to come out and play so well,” Capriati said. “I wasn’t comfortable in the first set. She’s got to start making errors. She’s got to come down. I’m very relieved. The conditions were tough. I dug deep and pulled out some shots when I had to.”

She hasn’t had a superb run at a major since last year’s Open, when 10 times she was two points from beating eventual champion Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semifinals.

Henin-Hardenne won an Olympic gold medal after playing one tournament in the previous four months while battling a viral illness, and Capriati was surprised at how fit the top-ranked Belgian is.

“The only thing I question is that maybe she was working a little more than what she had said,” Capriati said. “She doesn’t seem to have lost any muscle tone at all. When you’re not playing, when you’re sick, it looks like you would have atrophy in different places. It doesn’t look like that at all.”

When her match ended, Capriati heaved a sigh, then applauded the crowd. She was supported throughout by the fans, including one woman who yelled, “Woooo!” after each point Capriati won.

Capriati won the Australian Open twice, and the French Open once, but she’s never been to a U.S. Open final, despite plenty of fan support.

“I’m happy that they’re mostly on my side. I wouldn’t want them to be against me, you know,” she said, adding that winning the Open “would just be definitely the icing on the cake for me.”

After missing the Australian Open with a back injury, Capriati was routed in the French Open semifinals by Anastasia Myskina and in the Wimbledon quarterfinals by Serena Williams. Capriati and Williams — in action later Monday at Arthur Ashe Stadium — could meet in the quarters at the Open.

Second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo defeated American Marissa Irvin 6-4, 6-2 in the opening match of the tournament.

John Sommers / Reuters Amelie Mauresmo, seeking her first Grand Slam title, defeated Marissa Irvin 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday.

Mauresmo, the silver medalist at the Athens Olympics, waited out a 20-minute rain delay at the start and then wore down Irvin methodically. She hit 18 winners and had seven aces, six in the second set.

A semifinalist or better in eight of 12 tour events this year, including Wimbledon, Mauresmo overcame four double faults and won 77 percent of her first-serve points. She converted all four of her break-point opportunities and finished the match in 1 hour, 13 minutes.

The high seed does not disturb Mauresmo, who has never won a Grand Slam.

“I don’t feel the pressure of being No. 2 or No. 3 seed or whatever,” she said. “My goal is still

the same coming here as it was going to Wimbledon or the other Grand Slams. I want to go to the end and try to get that trophy.

“My serve was pretty good today. I felt very comfortable on that side of the game. The rest, I think I made too many errors and let her come back into that first set where I shouldn’t have.

“You know, it’s the first rounds, never easy. I guess I have a few things to adjust in my game. But overall, you know, a good start of the tournament.”

Mauresmo is one of three players in the field who could overtake Justine Henin-Hardenne for No. 1 in the rankings based on results at the Open. The others are Lindsay Davenport, perhaps the hottest player in the field with four straight hard-court tournament victories, and Anastasia Myskina, the French Open champion.

In other early matches, former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez lost to No. 31 seed Maria Vento-Kabchi 0-6, 6-2, 6-3; Ai Sugiyama, seeded No. 12, took advantage of 38 unforced errors and defeated Teryn Ashley 7-5, 6-2; Gisela Dulko defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6 (3), 6-3; and Julia Vakulenko defeated two-time NCAA champion Amber Liu 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

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