Defending champion Williams advances

Wimbledon champion Venus Williams began her U.S. Open title defence on Tuesday with a victory over an opponent whose name she could not pronounce but whose game presented few problems.

The fourth-seeded American eased her way into the tournament by pounding out a 6-2 6-3 win over Slovakian qualifier Lenka Dlhopolcova and was pleased to be off the court in 52 minutes.

"I don't really want any hard matches (early), especially since my week last week was a tough week for me," said Williams, who won the New Haven title last Saturday after successive victories over Justine Henin, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport.

"I played a lot of matches last week, a lot of points," she said. "I'd like to start off a little bit slower this week."

The week got off to a rousing start with Venus and sister Serena appearing on the cover of Time Magazine in an article on the rise of women's tennis.

"I'm going to have to put it in my scrapbook when I get a copy. I might not ever get this opportunity again," she said.

Venus was not letting her new cover girl status go to her head however. "It's only for a week," she said. "It's pretty fleeting."

NOT EASY

Not as fleeting as Dlhopolcova's U.S. Open debut though. "It probably wasn't easy for her playing in the U.S. Open wind," said Williams, who had 14 winners to just two for the 109th-ranked Slovak.

"I'm quite used to it. I've been playing in this wind since '98. That might have been tough for her," said Williams, 21, speaking like a seasoned veteran.

The American, who completed a successful title defence at Wimbledon last month, insisted that the champion's mantle did not add any weight to her broad shoulders.

"I'm definitely able to move on from last year," said Williams, who next faces fellow American Meilen Tu, a former U.S. Open junior champion.

"I had a great time winning last year. Those are my memories, can't take that away," she said.

"I'd like to be equally successful this year. In order to do that I have to leave last year behind. I'm just competing for the title," she said.

While not looking back to last year's success, Williams was already pondering Grand Slam conquests beyond next week at Flushing Meadows.

"My dream is to learn French," she said, "so that way I can say my title speech at the French Open in French."