The men’s top seed and defending champion received an arm massage after the fifth game.
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World number one Novak Djokovic insists his arm is “all good” despite needing treatment during his first-round win over Jerzy Janowicz at the US Open.
“Tomorrow is a new day”.
Dudi Sela was knocked out in the first round of a Grand Slam event for the fifth time in the past six tournaments on Monday, losing a five-set thriller to No. 18 seed Pablo Cuevas in the US Open in NY.
After the match, Djokovic continued to deflect questions after reporters had previously questioned him about getting treatment the day before his opening appearance at the U.S. Open. “I’m glad that I’m experiencing that so hopefully, as the tournament progresses, I’ll reach my peak”.
Djokovic, who is suffering from wrist injury, won 6-3 5-7 6-2 6-1 after calling the trainer in the first set.
Janowicz was too careless to capitalise on any weakness in his opponent’s armour but Djokovic will have to survive tougher tests if he is to win his 13th grand slam title in NY.
“When I started to play, the muscles started to pinch the nerves so I didn’t feel much control over my hand”.
Nadal, who said his injured wrist is improving daily, beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, in his firstround match on Monday.
The left-handed Vesely retired from his last match before the U.S. Open because of problems with the forearm.
“It was overall a good performance especially in the third and fourth”, Djokovic said.
Flamboyant French 10th seed Gael Monfils took his summer hardcourt record to 15-2 with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 win over Gilles Muller of Luxemburg.
He next faces Italy’s Andreas Seppi in the second round and remains on track to face Djokovic in the semi-finals. He said he’s still not back to hitting his forehand the way he does when he’s at his best, but there was nothing that seemed to be as debilitating as what Djokovic went through.
“Not easy to go 2½ months out of competition, in the middle of the season, without hitting a forehand”, Nadal said. “I also had cramping in my shoulder and then I made too many mistakes”.
Djokovic’s wrist, the orginal injury concern he entered NY with, didn’t seem to bother him during the match. “The most important thing”. The others were 20th-seeded John Isner’s comeback from two sets down to edge 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe before a rowdy, standing-room-only crowd at the new Grandstand, and 26th-seeded Jack Sock’s five-set victory over another 18-year-old, Taylor Fritz.
Ana Ivanovic, the 29th seed, crashed out of the U.S. Open in the first round for the second straight year after a 7-6 (4), 6-1 loss to Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic at Flushing Meadows here on Tuesday.
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No. 1 Djokovic and No. 4 Nadal both won their first-round matches on Monday and are drawn to meet one another in the semifinals, yet both are battling left wrist injuries that could keep them from playing their best, especially across the two-week grind of a Grand Slam event.
