Kerber survives battle with Venus at U.S. Open

Angelique Kerber of Germany hits a return to Venus Williams of the U.S. during their match at the U.S. Open women's singles tennis tournament in New York, August 30, 2012.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Germany's sixth seed Angelique Kerber survived a tense battle against Venus Williams 6-2 5-7 7-5 on Thursday night in the second round of the U.S. Open.

The first five games of the match were all service breaks before Kerber, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows a year ago, began to dominate.

The unseeded Williams staged a revival to lead 4-2 in the third set but Kerber prevailed to meet Olga Govortsova from Belarus in the third round.

Williams, a two-times U.S. Open champion, made 60 unforced errors in an erratic performance.

(Editing by Steve Ginsburg)