made a promising start in the opening round of the US Open as s

RIO DE JANIERO -- Her Snapchat photo from the bus ride to opening ceremonies was characterized by Serena Williams as her hungry face.It definitely wasnt a happy one as she described a long, cold, miserable journey: So I dont mean to be Debbie Downer or a Serena Downer, but Im kind of ready to go, she wrote. Im really tired, Im overwhelmed.By the time she got to Maracana Stadium, the photos and videos turned to twerking, and her sense of wonder at her fourth Olympic Games.This is so cool, Williams wrote.Thirty-six hours later, the world No. 1 found another antidote to jet lag and Rio traffic as she stepped onto center court at the Olympic Tennis Center for her first match and dispatched Australian Daria Gavrilova 6-4, 6-2 on a cool, windy Sunday afternoon before a vocal crowd.In Williams first match since capturing Wimbledon last month and tying the Open Era record with 22 Grand Slam titles, it was not as easy a victory as some may have expected against her 46th-ranked opponent. The competitive first set took 48 minutes.It feels good, Im happy to win my first match, said Williams, who committed 37 unforced errors to 28 by her opponent and converted 5-of-13 break point chances to 2-of-6 by Gavrilova. No one wants to go out in the first round. Its always a little tricky. You at least want to win a match, so I feel really good about that. And it wasnt an easy match for me today. She has a lot of big wins and she plays really well, so I was very happy.Gavrilova, 22, who represented her native Russia until 2015, when she emigrated to Australia, has career victories against Grand Slam champions Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and twice Petra Kvitova.To be honest, I got really tired in the second set, Gavrilova said. I played pretty late last night, and it really affected me. I got really flat, and you cant be flat against Serena because you have to run all the time.Gavrilova admitted to being slightly offended by all the people offering their regrets at her unfortunate draw, and indeed she did not go down easily.You know youre playing the best in the world, but youre still trying to beat her ..., she said. Everyone is like, Oh, Im so sorry, [when they heard the draw], and I was really getting annoyed.Williams said she was happy to get through on a day in which the wind whipped on the hardcourts. The conditions definitely didnt make it easy, she said.And as is often the case, the crowd rooted heartily for the underdog. But as the match wore on, the characteristic shrieks and fist pumps became more frequent on Williams winners. With her coach, agent and sisters looking on from their courtside seats, this may as well have been a Grand Slam final. Williams competitiveness in sealing the victory revealed the athlete and patriot she and sister Venus are.Their four Olympic gold medals each are the most of any tennis player, and Venus, beset by a virus Saturday night causing her to lose her first-round match, could not help her sister advance beyond the first round of doubles. The Williams sisters were upset by Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycová on Sunday evening.While many multimillionaire professionals chose to bypass the Games, nothing, Serena said, would have kept her away from these Olympics.I didnt consider not coming, she said. I really wanted to be here. I was planning to be here since London, so it wouldve been a real pity if I made all these big plans and I couldnt make it. So I tried everything I could to come to Rio.The Olympic experience is always different. Youre not the focus. There are so many different athletes. 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With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Jaren Jackson Jr. Jersey . Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, made a testing six-foot putt to save par on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th before bogeying the final hole after a misjudged approach shot. American Kevin Streelman was in second place after shooting a 69. The Indian badminton team made a promising start in the opening round of the US Open as several players advanced to the next round of the mens singles event.Sixth-seeded B Sai Praneeth, who recently clinched the mens singles title of the Canada Open, registered a 21-13, 21-12 victory over Swedens Henri Hurskainen to advance to the next round. He will face Canadas B.R. Sankeerth in the next round.H.S. Prannoy recorded a 21-7, 21-6 win over United States Calvin Linn in a match that lasted 20 minutes. He will face Irelands Joshua Magee in the next round.R.M.V. Gurusaidutt won against United States Phillips Jap 21-8, 21-13 in 25 minutes while Pratul Jooshi defeated Canadas Kevin Barkman 21-13, 21-13 in 23 minutes.ddddddddddddAnand Pawar beat Denmarks Peter Sovndal 21-7, 21-7 in 17 minutes. They will now face Japans?Kazumasa Sakai, Czech Republics?Milan Ludik and Austrias?David Obernosterer respectively.Fourth-seeded Ajay Jayaram received a walkover from Denmarks Joachim Persson, while Rio-bound K Srikanth gave a miss to the event to prepare for the Olympics.Harsheel Dani, however, lost to Israels Misha Zilberman 21-18, 21-18, making an early exit from the tournament. ' ' '