Spaniard Rafael Nadal fought his way through a knee injury to defeat Australian wild-card Alun Jones 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a first-round US Open match last night at Flushing Meadows. Nadal moved gingerly on his taped-up knee and was broken on serve several times by the low-ranked Aussie.
"I can't move too much," said the No. 2 seed; said his opponent, "I don't think he was at 100%." Meanwhile, the Williams sisters advanced handedly to the third round. Venus downed Romania's Ioana Roluca Olaru 6-4, 6-2, and Serena bested Italy's Maria Elena Camerin 7-5, 6-2. (More Rafael Nadal stories.)