US Open 2013 Day 1 Wrap: Venus Williams, Dan Evans and Alisa Kleybanova steal the headlines

Venus Williams plays a forehand during her women’s singles first round match against Kirsten Flipkens on Day One of the 2013 US Open on August 26, 2013. (Getty Images)

Two of the big favourites for this year’s US Open, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, opened their campaigns of the final Grand Slam of the season on Monday with impressive straight sets victories. But it was 60^th ranked Venus Williams and 179^th ranked British qualifier Daniel Evans, who turned in the best performances of opening Monday.

33-year-old Venus, a champion at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, turned back the clock with an impressive all-court display to upset 12^th seed and Wimbledon semi-finalist Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-2 to go 15-0 in first round matches at the US Open.

After easily winning the first set 6-1 in just 27 minutes, Venus needed nearly an hour to win the second set after several of the early games went to multiple deuces. But there were no effects on Monday from her Sjorgen’s Syndrome disease, which leaves her prone to fatigue and tiredness.

Instead, Venus served big (120mph on her fastest serve and averaging 111mph on her first delivery), hit winners off both flanks, attacked the net and lunged for volleys. She played like a champion and even dressed the part – looking stunning in one of her own designs – a black dress with floral prints and her purple-pink hair tied into a bun.

Hopefully, Venus can gather some momentum this fortnight and make a good run. “For me, I stay positive because I know I can play great tennis. Sometimes you just have to go through more than what you want to go through. Sometimes you have to have losses.

“When I had losses, it always motivates me a lot to do better and to work harder. So I realise that I haven’t had a lot of chances to play this year or a lot of chances to play healthy this year, have had injuries and what have you, so I’m just going to have to keep working my way into it maybe more than some of the other players, but I know I can do that. “

Meanwhile, Daniel Evans pulled off the biggest upset of the day as he stunned the 11^th seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in under two hours to score his first win in a Grand Slam on Court 13. Nishikori played like a man with a heavy burden on his shoulders – the Japanese player has been chasing history over the past few weeks, as he attempts to become the first from his nation to break into the world’s top ten.

And that has showed in his recent results. For 23-year-old Evans, who won three matches in qualifying last week, the win continues an impressive run in recent months – he has improved his ranking by nearly 200 spots since March and has also, twice in the past two years, won Davis Cup rubber matches for Great Britain.

The Brit will now take on the 20-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic for a place in the last 32 and his increasing confidence will make him a tough opponent. “That was pretty good out there to play so well and against someone so highly ranked. I felt pretty confident all through the week, and that was a good match. I wasn’t worried. I spoke to a few of you yesterday and I was pretty confident.”

Meanwhile, second seed Nadal extended his hard court winning streak to 16 matches as he defeated the 21-year-old American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 while Serena needed only one hour to beat the former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-0. The Italian felt so helpless on court that at one point she turned to one of the ball boys on the court for a hug.

Daniel Evans celebrates match point against Kei Nishikori during their first round match on Day One of the 2013 US Open. (Getty Images)

Among the other seeds in action, there were wins for (3) Agnieszka Radwanska, (5) Li Na, (8) Angelique Kerber, (9) Jelena Jankovic, (15) Sloane Stephens, (16) Sabine Lisicki, (19) Sorana Cirstea (no. 19), (23) Jamie Hampton (no. 23), (24) Ekaterina Makarova (no. 24), (25) Kaia Kanepi (no. 25), (30) Laura Rosbon and (32) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova among the women.

Among the men, there were wins for (4) David Ferrer, (8) Richard Gasquet, (18) Janko Tipasarevic, (19) Tommy Robredo, (23) Feliciano Lopez and (32) Dmitry Tursunov.

Besides Nishikori, three other seeds also fell on Monday. 29^th seed Magdalena Rybarikova, champion in Washington, lost to Austrian Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in straight sets in the women’s draw (the Slovak is now 3-16 in Grand Slams since 2010).

In the men’s 27^th seed Fernando Verdasco lost to Ivan Dodig in five sets while 30^th seed Ernests Gulbis, who admitted he was nervous because he knew this was a good draw for him, lost to Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer in five sets too.

But the most inspiring performance of the day came from Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova. The former world number 20 was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma – a type of cancer – in 2011. And having fought her way back the illness, she scored her first Grand Slam win, a two-and-a-half hour 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 marathon win over 19-year-old Monica Puig, since that diagnosis to earn a second round showdown with former finalist Jelena Jankovic.

Kleybanova’s story continues to inspire people but she wants the focus to return to her game, “Right now I’m back on court, and all my focus is on the matches. You know, I try to do my best. I want to win. I want to come back so much. It’s just all my mind is in tennis right now. But, you know, I hear a lot from people that I’m a big inspiration for them.

“A lot of people now look up to me. I mean, I think it’s great. I don’t want to be like an example, but if I am, I think it’s very nice. I’m not trying to, you know, show anything or whatever. I do it for myself. I want to play tennis. I want to be here as a tennis player because I have skills that I can do that, not being here as someone who overcame and because of that people knows me.

“I’m not trying to pretend anything. I just want to be a tennis player right now. But if my story inspires people and, you know, it gives them more belief on things, it makes them feel stronger at some point, I mean, that’s great. I think, you know, people always need someone to look up to, as I when I was young. I was looking up to certain people in my life, setting up certain goals. I think it’s great. If I can do something, I’m always happy to do that.”

Score of the day – 18^th seed Carla Suarez Navarro beat American Lauren Davis 6-0, 6-0 in 57 minutes.

Quotes of the day:What was your first thought when you saw the draw?Francesca Schiavone: Oh, S***!!

When Ernests Gulbis was asked if he should see a psychologist after getting nervous during his match, he responded: “Psychologist? No. You can go to a psychologist. I don’t need a psychologist.”

Matches to look forward to on Day 2: (1) Novak Djokovic vs. Ricardis Berankis; (12) Tommy Haas vs. Paul Henri-Mathieu; Denis Kudla vs. Jiri Veseley; (14) Maria Kirilenko vs. Yanina Wickmayer; (17) Dominika Cibulkova vs. Elina Svitolina; (21) Simona Halep vs. Heather Watson