New York: The welcome and support for Venus Williams in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday afternoon were not the same as they were for her sister, Serena, a night earlier. Nor was the result.
Venus, who turned 42 in June, has not made any pronouncements about her future in tennis, unlike her younger sibling, and while she has been successful and influential, too a seven-time Grand Slam champion; a Black woman in a predominantly white sport the fanfare and attention are not the same.
Playing in front of thousands of empty blue seats in an arena quite silent at the start, although growing louder later, Venus bowed out in the first round of the US Open for the second consecutive appearance, losing 6-1, 7-6 (5) to Alison Van Uytvanck.
This was the 23rd trip to Flushing Meadows for Venus, who made it to the final in 1997 as a teen then won the trophy in 2000 and 2001, and her record 91st time participating in a major tournament.
At night, Emma Raducanu became only the third defending US Open champion to lose in the first round, eliminated by Aliz Cornet 6-3, 6-3.
And yet another past champ bowed out in straight sets when Naomi Osaka, who won two of her four Grand Slam titles in New York, was eliminated by Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a match that ended after midnight.
Osaka, a former No. 1, also lost in the first round of the French Open this year and has slid to 44th in the rankings. She had been 3-0 head-to-head against Collins, but this fun-to-watch, hard-hitting matchup went the other way.
Raducanu, who was 18 and ranked 150th when she won the title as a qualifier a year ago, was bothered by hand blisters and was outplayed by Cornet, a 32-year-old from France who also upset No 1 Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon.
Swiatek, meanwhile, cruised into the second round after crushing Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-0.
Also playing under the lights was 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal, who returned to the US Open for the first time since 2019 and beat 21-year-old Rinky Hijikata 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. Nadal did not show any serious lingering issues with the torn abdominal muscle that forced him out of Wimbledon in July.
Rybakina became the latest top seed to exit the tournament after suffering a shock 6-4 6-4 defeat by French qualifier Clara Burel.
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz, who became the youngest man to reach the quarter-final in New York a year ago, advanced after his Argentine opponent Sebastian Baez retired when the Spanish teenager was leading 7-5, 7-5, 2-0.
Germany's Andrea Petkovic was visibly emotional on Tuesday as she headed into retirement following a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 loss to Swiss Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the first round.