Tennis-Kenin beats Venus Williams in late-night US Open encounter

American Sofia Kenin ​beat 46-year-old compatriot Venus Williams 6-2 ​7-6(6) in a U.S. Open ‌first-round ​match that began at 12:13 a.m. on Monday, the latest start in women's tournament history.

The match at Arthur Ashe Stadium ‌got underway after Novak Djokovic's five-set defeat by Mariano Navone, with a sizable contingent of fans staying on well past midnight for one more look at Williams, who was playing as ‌a wild card in her 96th career Grand Slam main draw appearance. Kenin broke ‌serve in the opening game and never trailed in the first set, racing to a 3-0 lead as both players struggled to find their rhythm, combining for nine double faults.

Williams, cheered on by chants of "Let's ⁠go Venus", ​broke back to ⁠love to trim the deficit to 3-1 but dropped serve again as Kenin pulled away to close out ⁠the set. Kenin reeled off three straight games to lead 3-1 in the second set and while ​Williams showed flashes of the form that earned her seven Grand Slam titles she ⁠struggled to string points together, with her second serve proving especially costly.

Kenin saved four break points to level ⁠at ​5-5, leaving Williams screaming in frustration at handing her opponent another game with unforced errors. However, Williams still found a way to hold for 6-5 before Kenin ⁠forced a tiebreak. Williams appeared to have the upper hand in the tiebreak but could not ⁠convert any of ⁠her seven set points, as Kenin dug in to close out the win.

Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, will next face top-ranked ‌American Jessica Pegula.