Novak Djokovic opened defense of his U.S. Open title with a labored 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz on Monday that brought new concerns about the world number one’s fitness.
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Nadal, the 2010 and 2013 champion, took his ideal first round record in NY to 12-0 with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. Meantime, the trainer attended to the Serb’s arm during the Janowicz match.
Djoker had to call his physio midway in the first set of his match against Janowicz as he felt some discomfort in his upper right arm.
Novak Djokovic has dominated men’s tennis like no other player in the last few years.
Djokovic is scheduled for a second round matchup against Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic, who took five sets to dispose of Saketh Mynei of India in his first round matchup.
Nadal’s reward for a fifth win in five meetings with Istomin is a match-up with Italian veteran Andreas Seppi.
After withdrawing early from the French Open and ruling himself out of Wimbledon due to a wrist problem, the Spaniard had come to Flushing Meadows under an injury cloud.
Nishikori, who earned Japan’s first Olympic tennis medal since 1920 a little more than two weeks ago, advanced in NY on Tuesday by beating Benjamin Becker 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Injuries are part of the career.
“I think I played a solid match for a lot of time, then was a tough moment in the middle of the second set but I think I resisted well and very happy for the victory”, Nadal said on court. But he managed to get out of harm’s way.
In other action, two-time U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki beat a top-10 opponent for the first time in almost a year, turning things around after dropping the first four games and eliminating 2004 U.S. Open champion champ Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4.
“I’m excited to keep moving forward”, Harrison said during an on-court interview at the tournament’s new Grandstand stadium, telling the partisan crowd: “Anything’s possible when I have your support”. “So it’s always good to have the first round done”.
On the women’s side, second-seeded Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open champ, meets Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
In the women’s event, Roland Garros victor Garbine Muguruza required three sets and a visit from the doctor before she survived.
Kerber powered through her first set in 27 minutes before cruising to a 6-love 1-love win after the 120th-ranked Slovenian retired because of leg cramps. Hercog had won just nine points in seven games.
However, for Olympic champion Monica Puig, it was a quick exit as she lost to China’s Zheng Saisai four and two.
Kvitova was in her trademark all-or-nothing mood, mixing up 31 winners with 30 unforced errors against her 26-year-old opponent, the first Turkish woman to play in the main draw at the tournament.
The 10th seed went on to win the match in straight sets 6-4 6-2 7-6.
Djokovic said he injured the wrist before the start of the Rio Olympics, where he was stunned in the first round by a resurgent del Potro, who went on to lose the gold medal match to Murray.
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Madison Keys waves after defeating Alison Riske in the first round of the US Open tennis tournament, early Tuesday morning, August 30, 2016, in NY. He surrendered serve twice after that as he hardly had the strength to stand.
