Williams sisters post first-round victories

NEW YORK – Venus and Serena Williams carry Althea Gibson’s legacy forward every time they step on a court, every time they hoist a Grand Slam trophy.

So on a night set aside to honor the 50th anniversary of the first U.S National Championship title for a black tennis player, the Williams sisters figured the best way to celebrate Gibson was to win.

Simple as that, they did.

Venus Williams beat Kira Nagy of Hungary 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday – and hit a Grand Slam-record 129 mph serve in the process. Serena Williams topped out at 126 mph and had only slightly more trouble getting past Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 7-5.

“I have all the opportunities today because of people like Althea,” Venus Williams said. “Just trying to follow in her footsteps.”

The siblings narrated a video that opened the tribute to Gibson, who was the first black man or woman to enter (in 1950) and to win (in 1957) Wimbledon and the tournament that’s now called the U.S. Open.

In 1999, Serena Williams became the first black woman since Gibson to win the U.S. Open. The next year, Venus Williams became the first black woman since Gibson to win Wimbledon.

It was a pretty good day for Americans, including Ahsha Rolle, a 22-year-old playing in her third Grand Slam match. She surprised No. 17-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

It was a big day for John Isner, too. Nothing about him is subtle. Everything about him is super-sized, from his 6-foot-9 frame to his 140 mph serves.

Add in large expectations, too, which will only increase now that Isner played the first Grand Slam match of his career and won it. Fresh out of college, Isner smacked 34 aces to knock off 26th-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-4.

“It’s a huge step for me,” said the 22-year-old Isner, who led Georgia to the NCAA tennis title.

Joining him in the second round was another young American who needed a wild card to get into the year’s last major tournament: Donald Young, the Wimbledon junior champion, who recently snapped an 0-for-11 drought in tour-level matches. Young, ranked 223rd, eliminated No. 93-ranked Chris Guccione of Australia 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.