NEW YORK (AP) – There was Serena Williams, unseeded but overpowering her opponent, then quoting supermodel-turned-reality-TV-star Heidi Klum.

There was Martina Hingis, down a set but coming back by using all of her guile and working every angle on court, including smacking one volley left-handed.

And there was Marat Safin, winning but muttering to himself, smashing a racket, and – as only he can – challenging the validity of an instant replay ruling.

It was a day of many happy returns at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, when those three past champions managed to make a bit of news merely by showing up. For Williams, it was her first Grand Slam match since January; Hingis was playing at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2002; Safin hadn’t won a match here since that year.

“It’s good to be back,” said Hingis, who beat Peng Shuai of China 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. “First of all, the energy of New York itself, it’s already great. And then walking on to the stadium, it was amazing. I was nervous in the beginning.”

The most anticipated return of all, though, might simply have been the tennis itself. Thanks to continuous light rain and mist, Tuesday was the first day at the U.S. Open without a completed match in 19 years, and that meant Wednesday’s schedule read like a “Who’s Who” of the sport.

Two-time defending champion Roger Federer won in straight sets, as did his chief rival, No. 2 Rafael Nadal, 2003 Open champion Andy Roddick, 2001 Open champion Lleyton Hewitt, and the top-seeded American, No. 5 James Blake.

Blake is after his first Grand Slam title, and two players chasing their second played under the lights at night. Maria Sharapova compiled 33 winners to only 13 unforced errors and breezed to a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Michaella Krajicek, the younger sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek. That was followed by Roddick’s 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over Kristian Pless of Denmark in Wednesday’s only second-round match.

Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon champion, and Roddick have been the subject of gossip. He turned 24 Wednesday, and she was asked whether she’d bought him a present.

“Is it his birthday?” Sharapova responded. “I had no idea.”

Even with so many matches across the grounds, the upsets were quite limited, with the biggest probably 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina’s 6-4, 6-2 loss to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo looked in trouble Tuesday, ushered off court because of the rain while trailing 5-2 in the second set against Kristina Barrois of Germany. But Mauresmo won every game played Wednesday to finish her 6-1, 7-5 victory. Mary Pierce, a two-time major winner and last year’s Open runner-up, also advanced.

Other noteworthy winners included No. 4 David Nalbandian (who lost the first two sets before eliminating Michael Berrer in five), No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 12 Tomas Berdych, No. 14 Tommy Haas, No. 17 Andy Murray, No. 18 Robby Ginepri, Tim Henman, and French Open winners Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Gaston Gaudio.

Women reaching the second round included No. 5 Nadia Petrova, No. 12 Dinara Safina (Safin’s sister), No. 16 Ana Ivanovic and No. 17 Daniela Hantuchova, who upset Williams in the Australian Open’s third round and now faces her here.

Williams missed this year’s French Open and Wimbledon – six months in all – with a left knee injury, so she needed a wild card to get into a tournament she won in 1999 and 2002.

Williams had no trouble at all Wednesday, beating Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-1, 6-2. With her older sister Venus munching on a sandwich in the stands, Williams ended a 22-stroke exchange with a backhand down the line that she punctuated with a grunt and a fist pump. That earned a break point, quickly converted with a cross-court backhand for a 3-2 lead in the second set.

“It was quite difficult to stop her,” Dominguez Lino said. “She might not be at the best point in her career or her best shape, but she’s still Serena.”

Indeed she is, which means at least as many questions about fashion as forehands. Williams gladly talked about “the Asian influence” on the design of her dress, noted that “purple is a really hot color this fall,” and credited “Project Runway” star Klum with the motto: “Some days you’re in. The next, you’re out.”

That’s sort of what happened to Hingis, who won the 1997 Open and four other major titles but went into retirement after a series of ankle and foot problems. She’s back now at 25, a fan favorite everywhere she goes.

Peng uses two-fisted grips for strong groundstrokes off both wings, but Hingis kept mixing speeds and cutting off shots, winning 22 of 26 points at the net. That included her slick switch from right to left when she realized she wouldn’t be able to reach a volley with her backhand. The lefty shot was something she picked up when she broke her right pinkie shortly before a local tournament at age 7.

Safin was 20 when he routed Pete Sampras in the 2000 Open final, possessor of a powerful serve and 6-foot-4 frame. But something happened on the way to greatness, perhaps due to his taste for the night life and propensity for injuries. He did win the 2005 Australian Open, but like Williams, his ranking fell out of the top 100 and he’s not seeded here.

“Nobody’s scared of you anymore,” Safin said. “It’s not the same situation it used to be.”

During his 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Robin Vik of the Czech Republic, Safin challenged a fault call on one of his third-set serves. When video replay confirmed the “out” call, Safin questioned that, too. Later, he said of the new system, “I don’t think it’s 100 percent.”

Safin, who next faces fourth-seeded David Nalbandian, offered thoughts on all sorts of subjects:

– On the Cincinnati Masters, played in Mason, Ohio: “Go there and see how depressing that place is.”

– On the state of his career: “I’m not planning to retire. I still think I can win a lot of tournaments, and I still think I can win a couple of Grand Slams.”

– On people who thought he’d dominate the sport: “The people – they were wrong.”

AP-ES-08-30-06 2251EDT