Djokovic, Swiatek, Gauff move; Rune, Sakkari knocked out

NEW YORK: Novak Djokovic made a stunning comeback to the US Open after he was denied the calendar grand slam in the 2021 final by the Russian Daniil Medvedev.

In his opening-round encounter on Monday night against Frenchman Alexandre Muller, Djokovic displayed a sheer governing performance at the Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 scoreline.

With the win, he regained his top stop at the ATP World Rankings from defending US Open Champion Carlos Alcaraz on September 11, when Djokovic will start a record-extending 390th week at the top.

He celebrated this win pleasantly and stated in his on-court interview, “The first set I started tremendously well off the box. We started quite late. Obviously, there was a ceremony between matches and I knew that we might have a late start, but nevertheless, I was excited to come out on the court.”

It’s been a couple of years, and to come out here in front of you guys is always an honor and a pleasure here on Arthur Ashe,” he added.

The World No. 76 Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles, who upset NCAA champion Ethan Quinn of the United States 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, will meet Djokovic in the second round.

World number one Iga Swiatek got her US Open title defence off to a dominant start, flattening unseeded Swede Rebecca Peterson 6-0 6-1 to kick off the action on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The four-time Grand Slam champion fired off 20 winners and four aces to set up a second-round meeting with Australian Daria Saville.

Swiatek said that her tank was "pretty empty" after losing in the Montreal and Cincinnati semi-finals earlier this month but showed no lack of vigour as she opened her US Open campaign with an ace and blazed through the first set.

The Polish player showed only brief signs of vulnerability early in the second set, as she began to accrue more unforced errors and had to claw her way back from triple break point in the first game.

Sixth seed Coco Gauff survived a surprisingly tough test from Laura Siegemund in a tense first-round match, fighting back to beat the German 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Next up for Gauff is 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva who beat Olivia Gadecki (Australia)1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena battled past an error-riddled Holger Rune 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round, handing the fourth seed a shock early exit from the year's final major.

Carballes Baena was lethal from the baseline and fired off seven aces as his Danish rival struggled to make any form of impact on a muggy afternoon match at Flushing Meadows.

Rune suffered early exits from tune-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati and there were early signs of trouble on Monday as he failed to earn a break point in the first set.

Carballes Baena converted on break point chances in the fifth and ninth games but his serve lost its firepower in the second set, where Rune finally broke in the third game.

The Spaniard, who won in Marrakech earlier this year, cleaned up his act in the third set, where he broke Rune to love in the eighth game, and had clear control over the affair in the fourth set, where he only dropped a single first-serve point.

Carballes Baena broke his opponent's serve in the third and seventh games and beamed widely after Rune surrendered the match with an unforced forehand error.

Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia proved she was no pushover even when her back was up against a wall as she battled past 2017 champion Sloane Stephens with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory.

Roland Garros semi-finalist Haddad Maia saved 11 of 15 break points across the match as the American suffered yet another early Grand Slam exit.

While Stephens was left to reflect on a miserable year at the majors, where her best showing was a fourth round appearance at Roland Garros, Haddad Maia set up a meeting with Stephens' compatriot Taylor Townsend.

After levelling the contest to one set all, Stephens could not absorb the Brazilian's firepower in the third set, where Haddad Maia sent over 20 winners.

Greek eighth seed Maria Sakkari crashed out of the US Open in the first round following a 6-4 6-4 defeat at the hands of Spaniard Rebeka Masarova.

World number 71 Masarova converted all three break point opportunities she had during the 87-minute encounter to secure her first career win over a top-10 player.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki marked her return to Grand Slam action for the first time in more than three years with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian qualifier Tatiana Prozorova. Wozniacki is competing in her third tournament since returning to the tour after retiring in 2020 to start a family, but the Dane's vast experience shone through against 19-year-old Prozorova.

Dominic Thiem, the 2020 champion who is unseeded this year, downed 25th-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Thiem, an Austrian who had lost his previous seven Grand Slam matches, next faces American Ben Shelton, who defeated Argentine Pedro Cachin in four sets.

The longest match so far, four hours and 29 minutes, went to Zhizhen Zhang of China, who outlasted American J.J. Wolf 7-5, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 4-6, 6-3.

In other first round matches, 4th seed Elena Rybakina (Kaz) beat Marta Kostyuk (Ukr) 6-2, 6-1, 10th seed Karolina Muchova (Cze) beat Storm Hunter (Aus) 6-4, 6-0, 18th seed Victoria Azarenka beat Fiona Ferro (Fra) 6-1, 6-2, 15th seed Belinda Bencic (Sui) beat Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 6-4, 11th seed Petra Kvitova (Cze) beat Cristian Bucsa (Esp) 6-1, 7-6(5), 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko (Lat) beat Jasmine Paolini (Ita) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

In men’s section, 5th seed Casper Ruud (Nor) beat Emilio Nava (Usa) 7-6(5), 3-6 6-4, 7-6(5), 10th seed Frances Tiafoe (USA) beat Learner Tien (USA) 6-2, 7-5, 6-1, 7th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre) beat Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, 9th seed Taylor Fritz (USA) beat Steve Johnson (USA)6-2, 6-1, 6-2, 14th Tommy Paul (USA) beat Stefano Travaglia (Ita)6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. Agencies

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