NEW YORK — Venus Williams moved on and Marat Safin said goodbye at the U.S. Open on Wednesday.

Her left knee heavily wrapped, the third-seeded Williams defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 6-2, in a much easier match than she had two nights before when she fell behind a set before rallying against Vera Dushevina.
While Williams advances to the third round, Safin’s Grand Slam career is over.
Planning to retire at season’s end, the former world No. 1 fell 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to Jurgen Melzer. Safin’s career will end with two Grand Slam titles, a smaller number than many experts thought possible when he broke through by beating Pete Sampras in the 2000 U.S. Open final.
But a lot of good memories, too. He was a fiery, emotional player in a sport that doesn’t have many, a player who estimated he’s broken more than 300 rackets in his career and also got fined for pulling his pants down once during a French Open match.
Playing in the afternoon in Arthur Ashe Stadium was Rafael Nadal, making his Grand Slam return after skipping Wimbledon with a knee injury. His match was against Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who is coming back from a 2›-month suspension after testing positive for cocaine.
Defending champions Serena Williams and Roger Federer were scheduled for night matches.