• Johanna Konta beats Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in first round• Dan Evans and
Novak Djokovic win, Angelique Kerber losesA few hours after the unveiling of a statue here to honour the great Althea Gibson – who won
Wimbledon in 1957 and partnered Britain’s Angela Buxton to win two slam doubles titles – the American’s spiritual heir, Venus Williams, progressed to the second round of the
US Open in a blistering hour and six minutes.
Route 66 for Williams – a two-times winner here at the turn of the millennium who turns 40 next summer and shows no signs of retiring – was a 6-1, 6-0 destruction of China’s Zheng Saisai on the court named after Louis Armstrong, who lived nearby. It is the best she has played in a little while. Williams next plays the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, who beat Jo Konta two weeks ago in Montreal.