Third seed Venus Williams was three points from defeat before recovering to beat Russia's Vera Dushevina in the first round of the US Open.Williams, 29, required treatment to her left knee after just three games of the first of the night session matches.
And Dushevina, the world number 47, was close to a shock victory in game 10 of the second set before Williams came back to win 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-3.
Williams will face fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in round two.
It was a wildly erratic performance from the former champion, who struggled especially on serve with 10 double faults and seven foot faults.
The knee was clearly an issue and she had it taped during an injury time-out early in the match.
"She played so well, moved so well and did so many things so well but I had so much help from the fans here," said Williams.
"I felt so much energy when I was serving to stay in the match in the second set. I am going to do my best to prepare for the next round."
Asked what it would take for her knee to be better for the second round, Williams said: "A lot of prayer. It's going to be a lot of prayer. Everything I can throw at it. But, you know, I'm tough."
Venus's sister, defending champion Serena Williams, earlier cruised into round two with a 6-4 6-1 win over Alexa Glatch.
The second seed raced 5-1 ahead but allowed her 19-year-old opponent to close the gap to 5-4 before serving out the first set.
Williams, 27, rallied in the second and came through to set up a meeting with Melinda Czink.
Bidding for her third Grand Slam title of 2009, a 12th in total and her fourth US Open, Serena survived a lapse in concentration midway through the first set to advance in just over an hour.
She began strongly but was broken when serving for the set at 5-2 as world number 103 Glatch settled after a nervous start.
Serena made no mistake at the second time of asking, however, and then powered through the second set.
"Ten years ago I definitely wasn't a favourite," said Williams, who won her first US Open title in 1999. "I felt like I had nothing to lose and I like that attitude.
"When you play with that attitude then you can go a really long way. That's how I would like to approach it this year."
Earlier, Kim Clijsters marked her Grand Slam return with a 6-1 6-1 thumping of Ukraine's Viktoriya Kutusova.
Former world number one Clijsters retired in 2007 and is making her first appearance in New York since winning the 2005 title.
After a two-year break, during which she got married and had her first child, she is without a ranking and gained entry to Flushing Meadows via a wildcard.
But she produced a devastating display of movement, timing and power to destroy Kutusova and looked no less dominant than in her last US Open appearance - a 6-3 6-1 victory over Mary Pierce in the 2005 final.
With five breaks of serve, the 26-year-old Belgian stormed to victory in just 54 minutes and will now play 14th seed Marion Bartoli, who thrashed Rossana De Los Rios 6-1 6-0.
"It was nice to come out here on centre court (Arthur Ashe Stadium) and open the tournament, as I didn't get to do so as defending champion a few years ago," said Clijsters.
"I'm glad I won in two sets without wasting too much energy. I had a few butterflies, more than I normally do because it was centre court and my first match back at a Grand Slam.
"Driving up here this morning, just seeing the court, the memories came back. It's a very special court to me and I really enjoyed it.
"My serve hasn't been going the way I wanted it to but today it was really good."
Elsewhere, seventh seed Vera Zvonareva beat Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-0 6-4 and eighth seed Victoria Azarenka made light work of Alexandra Dulgheru.
Azarenka has been tipped by many as an outsider for the title and the Belarusian won 6-1 6-1 to set up a second round meeting with Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who ousted Marta Domachowska in straight sets.
Agnieszka Radwanska, the number 12 seed from Poland, saw off Patricia Mayr 6-1 6-2 and she will now play Maria Kirilenko after the unseeded Russian beat Mariya Koryttseva 6-2 6-1.
Another comfortable victor was Italy's Francesca Schiavone, the 26th seed easing to 6-1 6-2 win against Yvonne Meusburger.
But things were far tougher for 15th seed Samantha Stosur, who battled to a 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory over Ai Sugiyama of Japan.
Stosur converted seven of 13 break points and Sugiyama six of 16, but it was the Australian who prevailed to set up a second-round meeting with unseeded American Vania King.
King's passage was secured by the withdrawal of Anastasiya Yakimova when trailing 2-1 in the opening set.
"I am very happy to go through and winning was the main thing," said Stosur. "There were so many momentum changes and I got the last one.
"I will have to play better in the next round. I just don't know why this tournament has never been good to me."
Amelie Mauresmo, the 2006 champion and 14th seed, overcame Tatjana Malek 6-3 6-4 and now plays Aleksandra Wozniak, a 6-1 7-6 (9-7) victor over Laura Granville.
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