NEW YORK (AP):

Justine Henin-Hardenne began the U.S. Open with a 74-minute victory over Maria Elena Camerin, eliminating the Italian 6-2, 6-1 as the last of the year's Grand Slams started late and under cloudy skies.

Overnight rain followed by lingering showers held up the start of play for about 90 minutes. The No. 2-seeded Henin-Hardenne, however, broke Camerin early and easily advanced to the second round.

"I wasn't moving that well," Henin-Hardenne said. "But game after game, especially in the second set, I was starting to feel better and served well."

Although temperatures at midday were only about 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit), humidity was at 87 per cent, typical for late August in New York.

Henin-Hardenne, who has reached the final of all three previous Grand Slams this year, including winning the French Open, had 23 unforced errors but capitalised on an opponent who had seven double faults and hit only three winners.

Wasn't my best tennis

"It was difficult because I didn't hit a single ball on a U.S. Open court. It was raining," Henin-Hardenne said. "It wasn't my best tennis, but it was very good to win that way."

Camerin took an injury timeout, leaving the court after the third game of the second set to seek care for a thigh injury.

No. 28 seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan was the first to reach the second round, taking only 41 minutes to beat the Czech Republic's Zuzana Ondraskova 6-1, 6-0.

Among other early women's results, No. 21 Shahar Peer of Israel beat Vasilisa Bardina of Russia 6-2, 6-2; No. 26 Marion Bartoli defeated Olga Poutchkova of Russia 6-4, 6-0, and 33rd seed Vera Zvonareva downed Marta Domachowska of Poland 7-6 (4), 6-3.

On the men's side, Mikhail Youzhny scored the first upset, eliminating 19th-seeded Dominik Hrbaty 7-5, 6-1, 6-3.

Elsewhere, No. 9 Andy Roddick avoided a repeat of last year when he was eliminated in the first round by Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, needing only 1 hour, 15 minutes to get past Florent Serra of France 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.

He converted seven of 15 break-point opportunities, the last when Florent sent a forehand long as the sun briefly came out from behind the clouds.

Roddick, who has taken on Jimmy Connors as his coach, is coming off his only tournament victory of the year, winning the Masters Series event in Cincinnati two weeks ago.

"It felt great," Roddick said. "I only hit for a couple of minutes because of the rain. But I'm glad my form has carried over from Cincinnati. All I know is I'm playing confidently now."

In another match, No. 20 Novak Djokovic of Serbia overcame a first-set loss to beat American Donald Young 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-1.