NEW YORK, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Venus Williams was knocked out of the U.S. Open in the second round by Ukraine's No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina, who saw off the American 6-4, 6-4, but the winner of 49 singles titles will continue to play further tournaments this autumn on the WTA's Asian swing.

The 39-year-old fended off five match points, but succumbed to Svitolina's sixth match point in a thrilling ninth game which lasted just 15 minutes.

Former world No. 1 Williams, now ranked No. 52, had been impressive in her first round match at Flushing Meadows on Monday, beating China's Zheng Saisai 6-1, 6-0.