Venus Williams overcame a bad knee and seven foot faults to beat 47th-ranked Vera Dushevina of Russia 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3 and avoid a first-round exit at the US Open on Monday night.

The No. 3-seeded Williams, a two-time US Open champion, had her left knee bandaged by a trainer after the third game. The American also had plenty of trouble serving, piling up 10 double-faults along with her foot-faults.

"I had a challenge on my hands today. But I wanted to win," said Williams, who made 54 unforced errors. "Each good shot and each not-so-good shot, I put behind me and looked forward to the next one."

Afterward, Williams wouldn't discuss her knee problem in any detail.

"You could see I had some issues," she said. "I don't really talk about my injuries, historically and I'm not going to start now."

Asked what it's going to take for her knee to be better for the second round, Williams said: "A lot of prayer. It's going to be a lot of prayer. Everything I can throw at it. But, you know, I'm tough."

Major tournament

Dushevina broke for a 3-1 lead in the second set and was three points from winning at 5-4. But Williams, who has never lost in the US Open's first round, won the next seven games.

"Next few points," Dushevina said, "she played great."

Up 4-0 in the third set, Williams dropped three games in a row before righting herself once again.

Williams owns seven Grand Slam titles, while Dushevina has only once been as far as the fourth round at a major tournament.

Williams' match served as the most intriguing encounter of a Day One that included victories for defending champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams, Venus' younger sister, and for 2003 champion Andy Roddick of the United States.

Taking to the court after 11 p.m. local time because his match followed Williams-Dushevina, Roddick easily advanced with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over 84th-ranked Bjorn Phau of Germany.

Roddick pounded serves at up to 145 mph (233 kph), put 81 per cent of his first serves in and collected 13 aces in a match that finished at 12:45 a.m. yesterday.

"The later, the better," Roddick said on court afterward. "These are the hard core fans."

Retirement

Former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters, who recently came out of retirement, won her first match at the US Open since claiming her lone Grand Slam title at New York in 2005.

Clijsters received a warm welcome from the Flushing Meadows crowd as she marked her return with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over 79th-ranked Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine.

It was the 26-year-old Belgian's first Grand Slam match since January 2007.

In the intervening years, Clijsters retired, got married and in May 2008, gave birth to a daughter. She came to the US Open unranked and needed a wild-card invitation from the US Tennis Association.

"Little more nervous than usual - it's a very special court to me, but I really enjoyed it," Clijsters said. "I felt really good out there."

Andre Agassi came back to the site of the final match of his career in 2006, but not to play. He participated in an opening-night ceremony.

By beating 18-year-old American Devin Britton 6-1, 6-3, 7-5, defending champion Federer ran his winning streak to 35 matches at the tournament and became the first tennis player to surpass $50 million in career prize money.

"Tricky match for me, playing a guy who's got absolutely nothing to lose," said Federer, seeking a sixth consecutive US Open title.

No one has won six straight US Opens since Bill Tilden won the American Grand Slam tournament every year from 1920-25.

"That's what I'm here for, trying to equal Bill Tilden's record. But I've never met Bill Tilden. Never saw him play. So it's hard to kind of relate to him in any way, except through records," Federer said. "It's fantastic to be sort of compared to someone who played such a long time ago, I guess."

Serena Williams beat an American teenager in straight sets, eliminating Alexa Glatch 6-4, 6-1.

Two-time major champion Amelie Mauresmo of France won easily, as did No. 7 Vera Zvonarev of Russia and No. 8 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Italian No. 10 Flavia Pennetta, No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and No. 14 Marion Bartoli, whose next opponent is Clijsters.

Unforced errors

France's Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up, was also the first woman Clijsters played in her comeback. Clijsters beat her.

"I just have to go on court and think I'm still the player with the better ranking, so I'm supposed to win," Bartoli said Monday. "This time I know what to do. I have a plan, so it's going to be different."

Meanwhile, Dinara Safina barely avoided becoming the first No. 1-seeded woman to lose in the first round at the US Open.

Safina overcame 11 double-faults and 48 unforced errors to come back and beat 167th-ranked Olivia Rogowska of Australia 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday.

Safina, the younger sister of two-time major champion Marat Safin, moved up to No. 1 in the rankings in April - and is assured of staying there no matter what happens at Flushing Meadows.

The Russian reached the finals at the Australian Open and French Open this year, losing both.

Rogowska, 18, received a wild-card invitation into the US Open and has won one Grand Slam match. She never has defeated anyone ranked better than 47th.