Former champion Maria Sharapova, former world number one Venus Williams and fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska will play in the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows today.
Fifth seed Sharapova will face Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, after dispatching countrywoman Maria Kirilenko in the opening round. The Russian looked in total control during her straight set victory and is a favourite to clinch the second round tie as well.
Dulgheru also had an easy first round outing as she displayed a clinical performance in defeating her opponent in straight sets. However, beating Sharapova will not be easy for the Romanian as the five-time major winner looked in pretty good touch in the opener.
Sharapova leads head-to-head encounters against her Romanian opponent 2-0 and in their most recent clash the Russian thrashed her in straight sets.
Meanwhile, two-time champion Venus made a wobbling US Open start as she rallied back from a set down to reach the second round. Venus lost the opening set against Kimiko Date-Krumm but rebounded to clinch the tie against her much older opponent.
"I didn't have the ideal start, but she's a tricky player," Venus said. "She came up with some really good shots off my serve."
"I just wasn't able to convert enough holds early on," she added. "I give her a lot of credit for winning the first set and really making it extremely challenging."
Venus is now set to lock horns with Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland in the second round.
This is the second time they are facing each other and the American defeated Bacsinszky in their last meeting five years ago in China.
In another second round match, Radwanska of Poland, after comprehensively winning her opening match against Sharon Fichman of Canada, is set to face Chinese Shuai Peng.
The Pole is leading the head-to-head encounters 3-1 against her Chinese opponent and heading as favourite in the match. Peng defeated Radwanska only once, but importantly that victory came at Flushing Meadows' second round.
World number five Radwanska is looking forward to book a third round berth and maintain her first round performance in the forthcoming encounter.
"I had a lot of good matches against top players and a couple of good wins coming into the US Open, especially in Montreal," Radwanska said. "So, of course that gave me more confidence than I had before. Hopefully, I will continue that same good level here."
Schedule of Play: Second Round
Shuai Peng vs Agnieszka Radwanska starts 8:30 pm IST
Maria Sharapova vs Alexandra Dulgheru starts 1:30 am IST
Timea Bacsinszky vs Venus Williams starts 4:30 am IST
Where to Watch Live
The day's action is scheduled for 8:30 pm IST (3:00 pm GMT, 4:00 pm BST and 11:00 am ET) start with live coverage on Ten Sports in India and live streaming option HERE. International viewers can catch the action HERE and HERE or listen to the action free HERE. The live updates of all matches are available online HERE, HERE or HERE.
Eurosport will broadcast matches live in the UK and Europe. Viewers can also live stream the action HERE or listen to the action live online on BBC HERE. Catch the action live on ESPN Network and CBS Sports Network in the United States or see live streaming HERE or HERE. SuperSport will telecast the action in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa and viewers can catch the matches live HERE.
