She walked over to one of the ball boys and wrapped herself in his arms for comfort.
Her actions drew laughter from the crowd and Schiavone, a former French Open champion, suffered a large margin of defeat, 6-0, 6-1, to Williams at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It was tough today,” Schiavone said. “Really, really tough.”
Williams, the defending champion, hardly broke a sweat. She frustrated Schiavone so much she tossed her racket into the stands, then grabbed and embraced the ball boy. Williams turned her back to keep from laughing.
“I just thought I have to stay focused and do what I can,” Williams said. “I wanted to just stay really focused out there.”
Williams won 71.4 percent of her serves and had 13 winners.
“She’s a great competitor,” Williams said of Schiavone. “The scoring line had nothing to do with the match. I was able to win some key points, but I’ll tell you it wasn’t very easy out there.”
