TENNIS US OPEN: OLYMPIC GOLD medallist Elena Dementieva of Russia beat unseeded Akgul Amanmuradova in straight sets on the first day of the US Open, while former champion Lindsay Davenport and men's fourth seed David Ferrer also won.
Dementieva, the fifth seed, won 6-4, 7-5, on the main court at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre in New York.
Neither player had a break opportunity until the ninth game of the first set.
Dementieva failed to break Amanmuradova in her first three chances before hitting a backhand winner to take a 5-4 lead.
Dementieva won the next game to take the first set.
Dementieva was the runner-up in the 2004 US Open, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The 26-year-old won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, beating another Russian, Dinara Safina.
"It's very hard not to think about the Olympics," Dementieva told reporters at a press conference. "All my thinking is still there in Beijing."
She said achieving her biggest goal of the year - winning the gold - had boosted her confidence.
Dementieva has never won a Grand Slam, losing in the finals of the French Open and US Open in 2004.
Amanmuradova, a 24-year-old from Uzbekistan ranked 78th in the world, was playing in her first US Open. She has never advanced beyond the second round of a Grand Slam.
In the second set, Amanmuradova broke Dementieva to lead 5-3. Later, however, she failed to capitalise on two set points by hitting two returns long and ended up losing the game. Dementieva won the next three games to take the set and the match.
Davenport, seeded 23rd, won in her return to the Grand Slam event after taking a break last year to have a baby.
She beat Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-4, 6-2.
Davenport, who has three Grand Slam titles and won in New York in 1998, showed no sign of a knee injury that forced her to withdraw from the singles competition at the Olympics and pull out of Wimbledon.
"Physically I felt perfect so that is the most important thing," Davenport (32) said in a televised interview after the match.
"I have played one match since the beginning of April, so I am a little a bit rusty in that regard."
Davenport made 26 unforced errors and converted five of 14 break chances. She needed five match points to secure the victory.
The 20-year-old Wozniak had won her first singles title in California last July, when she defeated top seed Serena Williams, who retired because of injury, and sixth-seed Marion Bartoli along the way.
At Louis Armstrong Stadium, Ferrer of Spain scored a straight-sets victory over Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 7-6 (7- 1), 6-2, 6-2.
On the grandstand court, Gael Monfils, the 32nd seed from France, defeated Pablo Cuevas from Uruguay in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.
The unseeded Kei Nishikori of Japan upset the 29th seed Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
