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The Latest: A 1st for Venus: She loses in 1st round of Open

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Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Venus Williams, of the United States, serves to Karolina Muchova, of the Czech Republic, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, in New York.(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

NEW YORK – The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times local):

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9:15 p.m.

Venus Williams has lost in the opening round at the U.S. Open for the first time in her long career.

Williams had been 21-0 previously, but she was beaten by No. 20-seeded Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-5 on Tuesday night.

It was small consolation to Williams that by appearing in the tournament for the 22nd time, she broke the women’s record in the Open era. She had been tied with Martina Navratilova.

Williams’ sister, Serena, was among the few spectators for the match. Serena won her opening match earlier in the day.

The 40-year-old Venus was the oldest player in the draw. She fell to 1-7 this year.

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7:10 p.m.

Serena Williams began her latest attempt to win a 24th Grand Slam singles trophy by beating Kristie Ahn in the first round at the U.S. Open.

The two Americans split the first 10 games before Williams pulled away to win 7-5, 6-3. The victory was her 102nd at the tournament, breaking the tie she held with Chris Evert for the most by a woman in the Open era.

Williams hit 13 aces and lost only six points on her first serve.

Williams, who turns 39 this month, has won the tournament six times and has been runner-up each of the past two years. She's seeded No. 3 and hoping to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.

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6:40 p.m.

Wild card J.J. Wolf pulled off an upset at the U.S. Open, beating 29th-seeded Guido Pella 6-2, 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round.

The 21-year-old Wolf is in the main draw for the first time. Pella reached the third round of the U.S. Open in 2018 and the third round of the Australian Open earlier this year.

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5 p.m.

Andy Murray saved a match point and put together his 10th career comeback from two sets down to win his first Grand Slam contest in nearly 20 months.

The 2012 U.S. Open champion, still working his way back from a pair of operations on his right hip, overcame 13 double-faults and a big deficit to beat Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-4 in 4 hours, 39 minutes.

Murray is a former No. 1-ranked player whose resume also includes two Wimbledon championships and two Olympic singles gold medals.

The 33-year-old had hip surgery in January 2018, then again in January 2019, shortly after a first-round loss at the Australian Open. He figured he would need to retire from tennis.

But Murray eventually returned to the tour last season. A pelvic problem — combined with the sport’s coronavirus-caused hiatus — kept him off the tour from last November until August.

Murray faced a match point Tuesday while down 6-5 in the fourth set, but he saved it with a 127 mph service winner.

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3:45 p.m.

Two seeded men at the U.S. Open — No. 2 Dominic Thiem and No. 32 Adrian Mannarino — have been fined because someone in their entourage violated the tournament’s COVID-19 protocols.

Mannarino was docked $2,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Thiem was fined $1,500.

Mannarino has acknowledged he is part of a group of players who were in contact with Benoit Paire, the only U.S. Open entrant to test positive for the coronavirus so far. That group was placed under additional restrictions in case they might have been exposed to the virus by Paire.

The U.S. Tennis Association specified that Thiem’s entourage violated the rule requiring universal masking. There was no explanation of what exactly Mannarino’s entourage did wrong.

The only two fines for female players announced so far were $3,000 each for Paula Badosa and Arantxa Rus for getting coaching help, which is not allowed at Grand Slam tournaments.

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3:20 p.m.

Former top-10 player Carla Suarez Navarro has announced that she will need six months of chemotherapy to treat Hodgkin lymphoma.

Suarez Navarro pulled out of the U.S. Open last month.

In a video posted on Twitter on Tuesday, the Spaniard she was diagnosed recently.

“I'm fine and calm at the moment and willing to face whatever comes,” Suarez Navarro said.

She turns 32 on Thursday.

Suarez Navarro has been ranked as high as N. 6 and is currently No. 71. She is a seven-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist, including at the U.S. Open in 2013 and 2018.

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3 p.m.

Sumit Nagal became the first Indian man to win a match at the U.S. Open in seven years.

The 23-year-old resident of New Delhi beat Bradley Klahn 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Nagal came in ranked No. 124 in the world.

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2:10 p.m.

Sam Querrey was knocked out of the first round of the U.S. Open by a player who missed more than two years because of a hip injury.

Andrey Kuznetsov beat Querrey 6-4, 7-5 (6), 6-2 to complete the long comeback, getting his first tour-level win since 2017. The Russian returned to play last month at a Prague Challenger event and lost his only match after a two-year, seven-month layoff because of the hip.

Kuznetsov was ranked No. 39 in 2016 before the hip problems sidetracked his career. He's the first unranked player to win a Grand Slam match since Nicolas Kiefer at Wimbledon in 2007.

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1 p.m.

Californian Ernesto Escobedo has moved into the men's singles bracket at the U.S. Open, filling the spot that opened when Benoit Paire tested positive for the coronavirus shortly before the start of the tournament.

Spain's Marcel Granollers was first in line to fill Paire's spot, but he declined in order to focus on doubles. Escobedo then moved in and will face Kamil Majchrzak on Tuesday.

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11 a.m.

The second day of the U.S. Open is underway at Flushing Meadows with the Williams sisters ready to play and Andy Murray taking a big step in his comeback from hip surgery.

Serena Williams is scheduled to play during the day and Venus at night, looking to add to their combined eight titles at the U.S. Open. Serena has won the championship six times but has been runner-up each of the last two years in New York.

Murray is playing his first Grand Slam event since the 2019 Australian Open, before hip problems forced him to have surgery and start a long comeback.

Murray faces Yoshihito Nishioka in Arthur Ashe Stadium, followed by Serena Williams against Kristie Ahn.

The first day of the tournament didn't have any notable upsets. Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka both advanced in night matches.

The weather is favorable, with a forecast of partly cloudy skies and temperatures around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius).

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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


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