Williams sisters make the night complete

NEW YORK -- So much for the wrist, the knee and the thumb.

So much for the lack of serious match play leading into the U.S. Open.

It was all so much about Venus Williams and her sister Serena on the first night of the final Slam of the season. Monday night started as a tribute to Althea Gibson, and her historic victory 50 years ago at the U.S. national championships, and ended as a celebration of the sisters.

Venus moved in for her close-up first and equaled tennis history -- her own, in fact -- in the first set by hitting a record-tying serve of 129 mph against Kira Nagy. The 12th-seeded Williams needed a mere 54 minutes to defeat the qualifier from Hungary, 6-2, 6-1, in the first round

Up next was Serena, seeded eighth, who had a much tougher go with Angelique Kerber of Germany. She looked almost subdued and sluggish early before picking up the pace and volume to win, 6-3, 7-5, in 1 hour 17 minutes.

Still, despite not having played since injuring her left thumb at Wimbledon, she delivered in the critical moments, breaking Kerber at love in the eighth game of the first set. Serena also took determined aim at 129 -- hitting a 126-mph ace in the third game -- and finished with seven aces and 38 winners.

“As a little sister, I was jealous Venus got to play first,” Serena said in her on-court TV interview.

She wasn’t the only Williams sister with a tough act to follow. Gibson, who died in 2003, was inducted into the U.S. Open court of champions, and a group of female African American pioneers was on hand for the ceremony.

One of the luminaries was singer Aretha Franklin, who spoke about the Williams sisters in a news conference, discussing, among other things, their fashion choices. Serena even performed her own alteration during the final changeover, removing the pink bow from her black dress before she served for the match.

“I got frustrated and I had to blame something,” Serena said.

Said Franklin, of the Williamses’ various outfits: “Very daring. Very daring. But they’re young. Young people start new trends. I wish I was in the shape that Serena is. . . . One of my sons said, ‘Mom, you know, I like her shape.’ All right, I think I know what you’re saying.”

Venus spoke about the difficulty of coming on after the tribute.

“Well, it was definitely a tough act to follow in a way,” she said. “Just watching the whole hour of entertainment, the whole story, I got to be part of the story, too. . . . It’s like, ‘OK, Williams can’t lose tonight.’ That’s not part of the plan. It’s supposed to be an all-American win tonight.”

Another African American female won Monday night. Wild card Ahsha Rolle had her moment in the spotlight with her first match victory at a Grand Slam, beating 17th-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. Rolle hit 37 winners.

“Obviously a great night to do it with the Althea Gibson tribute,” Venus said. “It’s good for American tennis.”

There was a sense of inspiration around the grounds, at least for Day 1, sending away the usual doom and gloom about the woes of American tennis.

Two wild-card entrants, 18-year-old Donald Young and fast-rising John Isner, won their first matches at the U.S. Open. Young defeated Chris Guccione, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, and Isner beat Jarkko Nieminen, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-4.

The 6-foot-9 Isner hit 34 aces, and Nieminen said it was the hardest serve for him to return.

“I felt like I served really well out there,” said Isner, who reached the final earlier this summer in Washington, D.C. “Obviously, it’s what won me the match. I don’t hold anything back. I go for broke on my first and second serve.”

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com