NEW YORK — Serena Williams survived a second-round scare at the US Open on Wednesday with a 5-7 6-3 6-1 win over American wildcard Catherine McNally to keep alive her hopes of securing a record-tying 24^th Grand Slam title.

World number eight Williams, who captured the first of her six US Open titles two years before her 17-year-old opponent was born, spent the first half of the match trying to find her rhythm but when she did she was off to the races.

“She really came out and played really well, she showed no fear,” said Williams. “She had absolutely nothing to lose and she played like it.”

McNally, competing in only her sixth tour-level event of her career and against the highest-ranked player she has ever faced, used an old-school serve-and-volley approach along with a lethal slice backhand to unsettle Williams.

So effective was McNally, who has tried to model parts of her game after Swiss great Roger Federer, that at one point in the match Williams screamed at her racquet “why are you missing?”

But Williams, whose earliest US Open exit came in her 1997 debut when she lost in the third round, turned the match around when she finally broke McNally’s serve and then consolidated in a tight service game for a 5-2 lead in the second set.

Williams looked more like herself in the decider — both serving and returning better — as she went up a double break for a quick 3-0 lead before storming home and sealing the match when she broke to love.

“I survived tonight,” said Williams. “I am not too pleased with the way I played at all,” said Williams, whose 28 unforced errors were two fewer than McNally.

“But it’s OK, I’m alive, I’m still here and happy to be on this court. I’ll do better. I promise.”

Williams dropped only one point through her first three service games but it took her some time to make any inroads on the McNally serve as the American was hitting her targets with pinpoint precision.

The match proved a far more gruelling affair for Williams than she had in her opener, where she dismantled Maria Sharapova with one of her most dominant performances since returning from maternity leave in 2018.

McNally said she did not feel intimated walking onto the biggest stage in tennis to face one of the game’s all-time best players and left the match feeling beyond proud of what she accomplished.

“I got a set off Serena Williams. Had her close in the second set, too. Had some chances,” said McNally.

“For me, it just gives me a lot of confidence, shows me that I can compete out on the biggest stages. Just keep my head down, I’m ready to go back to work.”

Up next for Williams will be either Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei or Czech Karolina Muchova, who were unable to get their match in earlier due to rainy conditions. — Reuters

THE RP Blu Girls hopes to finish on top of the WBSC Softball Asia/Oceania 2019 Qualifying Event in Shanghai, China, to clinch a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan.

Slated from Sept. 24 to 29, the Asia/Oceania Qualifying Tournament will pit the RP Blu Girls against powerhouse teams Chinese Taipei, Australia, China, and New Zealand, as well as Korea, Indonesia, and Hong Kong. The winner will move on to represent the Asia/Oceania region at the Tokyo Olympics, alongside world no. 2 Japan.

At the World Cup and Canada Cup in 2017, the Blu Girls beat Canada and Mexico twice and went on to stun Australia and Chinese-Taipei, all of whom are part of the world’s top six softball teams.

NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic’s US Open title defense just got a little tougher on Wednesday as a recent shoulder issue flared up and nearly knocked the Serbian out of a second-round match that tested his resolve.

Djokovic struggled with both his serve and backhand during a 6-4 7-6(3) 6-1 win over Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero and later said his left shoulder had been bothering him for weeks with the pain getting worse during the match.

“I’ve been experiencing some days of higher intensity of pain, some days less. It has been really fluctuating a lot, going up and down,” said Djokovic.

“What happened today on the court, actually how I felt, was quite rough and unpredictable.”

Djokovic, who had work done on the shoulder during his pre-match warm-up inside Arthur Ashe Stadium earlier in the day, was in clear distress when he took a medical timeout while leading 4-3 in the first set.

The Serbian ironman returned to court to close out the first set and then had more treatment before Londero, playing in only his second main draw match at Flushing Meadows, broke him twice for a 3-0 lead in the second.

So bothered was Djokovic by his backhand that in the third game of the second set, at 30-30 and with Londero well out of position, he failed to get even a soft backhand to the open court over the net.

But he roared back to take the next five games, a stretch during which he managed to fire off a number of backhand winners, en route to strolling through the tiebreak before getting more treatment on his shoulder.

“It was not easy to play with this kind of sensation, to be honest. I did not experience that too many times in my career,” said Djokovic.

“The way it has started for me, especially midway through the first set, I didn’t know if I would be able to finish the match.”

While Djokovic was nowhere near his best, Londero, who is in the midst of a breakout season that saw him win his first title, will be happy to have played at such a high level in his first career meeting with the 16-times Grand Slam champion.

Up next for Djokovic, who has won four of the last five majors, will be either fellow Serbian Dusan Lajovic, the 27^th seed, or American Denis Kudla, who were unable to play their match earlier because of inclement weather. Djokovic said he would have the injury assessed on Thursday and hoped to be pain-free for his match on Friday. — Reuters