Venus Williams waves to the crowd after defeating Rossana De Los Rios at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Williams, the U.S. Open winner in 2000 and 2001, did not get much of a workout in the 59-minute match against the 113-ranked De Los Rios, 32, who has never gone beyond the second round at Flushing Meadows.
The 28-year-old seventh seed, who won her fifth Wimbledon singles title in July, made 17 unforced errors and squandered four match points on her serve at 5-3 up before finally claiming victory on the fifth.
In the third round, Williams will meet Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine, the 27th seed who defeated Sabine Lisicki of Germany in three sets.
