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A look back at sports

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes (L) keeps both feet in the end zone as he beats Arizona Cardinals safety Aaron Francisco to catch the game winning touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, February 1, 2009. Credit: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Sports pictures of the year

From a nail-biting pass at Superbowl XLIII to a bloody WBO World Welterwight fight, here's a look at the best sports photos of 2009.   Slideshow 

Serena eases ominously into second round

Mark Lamport-Stokes
NEW YORK
Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:21pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Serena Williams launched her bid for a third U.S. Open title with a ruthless 6-1 6-4 demolition of Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round on Tuesday.

Sports  |  Russia

The fourth-seeded American delivered a typically muscular display of power serving and searing groundstrokes to wrap up victory in just under an hour on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

U.S. Open champion in 1999 and 2002 and runner-up to her sister Venus in 2001, Williams breezed through the opening set in just 19 minutes before breaking her opponent in the 10th game of the second to seal the win.

Williams, who is seeded to meet her sister in the quarter-finals, will next meet either Russian Elena Vesnina or Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine.

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Sports
Russia


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