Venus Williams' had costly mistakes in an early round exit in the US Open

After waiting five hours to play, Venus Williams and Sofia Keinin got their match underway. In the early stages of the first set, Venus struggled to find her rhythm and her first serve was not there. Kenin took advantage and won nine consecutive games to go up 3-0. After a slow start, Venus won her first game with a cross shot, which caught Keinin off guard. Venus started zeroing in on more of a longer backhand shot, which was proven successful as the match progressed. Despite the backhand shots, Williams was shooting herself in the foot with five double faults. Williams went onto to lose the first set 6-2.

With her back against the wall, Williams knew that she had be more aggressive and make Keinin chase her. She opened the set with a win. Her first serve went back up to 50%, but it was not consistent enough. The unforced errors were a key factor with knocking Williams' rhythm off. In the second serve department, she was hitting 3 of 14 and was trying to gut it out. Williams had some opportunities, but she could not get enough top spin on her second serve.

As we all know, the Williams sisters are not going out without a fight. Venus dug herself out of a 4-2 hole and actually tied the set up in the eighth game. Williams had Keinin on the ropes but had a couple of unforced errors, which kept Keinin in the game. Eventually, Williams lost her groove and the set with a few double faults, 6(7), 7(8)