Tennis: Lacklustre Serena Outshone By Her Own Jewellery

When the Williams sisters put their mind to it they can still raise their game to heights few other women can live with. Despite a series of injuries that has limited their appearances on the tour this year, Serena won the Australian Open and Venus took the Wimbledon crown - two out of three with one major to go.

There were moments in Serena's opening match in the US Open yesterday, though, when she appeared to be blowing hard. Considering her opponent, Chan Yung-jan, was a 16-year-old grand slam rookie from Chinese Taipei, this suggested that Williams, champion here in 1999 and 2002, may have trouble making the second week this time.

She is due to play Venus in the fourth round, who opened up on the same Arthur Ashe centre court with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Rika Fujiwara of Japan, and Venus currently looks by far the better of the siblings.

On the face of it Serena's 6-1, 6-3 win appeared comfortable enough but Chan, a qualifier, had points for a 4-1 lead in the second set and ,with a little more experience, might have forced the issue further. For a few moments it seemed that the $40,000 worth of Serena's earrings that flashed and winked in the noon-day sun, might live up to their name The Dream Catcher, though not in the way their Los Angeles designer had intended.

Perhaps that is why she quickly dispensed with the 13-carat danglers as the Taipei teenager, ranked outside the world's top 200 but one of the world's top juniors, began to make Williams set off on the sort of galumphing runs that did not lend themselves to high fashion accessories. Less sparkle and more elbow grease were the order of the day.

An ankle injury saw Williams miss the French Open and then lose in the third round at Wimbledon. There were few signs yesterday that either her form or fitness have returned, although she proved everybody wrong in Australia and it is not beyond her to do it again, however unlikely it seems.

Venus, on the other hand, is in the mood to complete her third Wimbledon-US Open double, the first two being in 2000 and 2001.

The New York public were decidedly underwhelmed last year when, in an all-Russian final, Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Elena Dementieva. So there was no great feeling of loss when the 20-year-old champion went out in the first round, beaten by yet another Russian, Ekaterina Bychkova, also 20, who was making her grand slam debut.

There has been no sparkle to Kuznetsova's play this year as she has struggled to come to terms with the pressures of being a major champion. Much the same has happened to her fellow Russians Anastasia Myskina, last year's French Open winner, and Maria Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon champion. The great women's Russian surge to the top has stalled for the moment.

Tim Henman, having apparently rid himself of the stomach muscle problems he encountered at the Cincinnati Masters, now has back trouble again. This has been a concern for him and almost caused him to miss the Australian Open earlier this year.

It was at the US Open last year that he was unable to practise because of stiffness in his lower back, but with regular treatment he was still able to make it through to the semi-finals for the first time.

"It's frustrating to say the least," said Henman, who plays Spain's Fernando Verdasco. "Having had a problem with my stomach in Cincinnati I think my body ended up compensating for it and my back has stiffened up as a result. I haven't been able to practise as much as I would have wanted but at least I know what the problem is and how to go about treating it."

It was not all bad news for Henman. Marat Safin, the No5 seed, withdrew with an injured left knee, on which he had surgery after Wimbledon, leaving Henman, seeded 12th, as the highest ranked player in that particular eighth of the draw. He was seeded to meet the Russian in the fourth round. Henman and his fellow Britons, Greg Rusedski and Andrew Murray, all play today.