Rusty Djokovic starts Grand Slam record attempt with Albot thrashing

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Novak Djokovic’s bid to win his record 25th Grand Slam title began on Monday with a lame 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over qualifier Radu Albot in the first round of the U.S. Open as the defending champion returned to the court following his Olympic triumph.

Three weeks after winning the singles title at the Paris Games, Djokovic lugged his racquets and equipment in two gold-colored bags onto Center Court to a hero’s welcome from the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

But the Serb clearly lacked the golden touch in this night-time match, as he had problems with his serve and made almost twice as many unforced errors as Winner.

Nevertheless, he had more than enough weapons to keep Moldova’s Albot at bay in their first meeting on the tour and claim his record 78th victory under closed roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“To be honest, I wasn’t aware of it,” Djokovic said of the milestone on Centre Court.

“It is definitely the loudest stadium in the history of our sport. The night sessions here are the best in the world.”

Although he had never played against Albot, Djokovic said he had done a lot of research on the 34-year-old, who had beaten both his younger brothers Marko and Djordje during his playing days.

“They both lost to him, so hopefully I can avenge my brothers tonight,” he told ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert with a laugh before entering the field.

Djokovic avenged the family name in three rocky sets but will be hoping for a better performance in his game as he looks to overtake Margaret Court on the list of all-time Grand Slam winners.

With 10 double faults, his serve was wild by his usual standards and he winced all evening as 40 unforced errors piled up.

His coach Nenad Zimonjic was a lively presence, barking instructions in Serbian to the uncontrolled champion, who was only able to convert six of 16 break points.

Although Djokovic was far from his best, Albot was unable to compensate the world number two.

After a brilliant start in the first two sets, he faltered on serve in both sets before finishing better in the third set.

In the autumn of his record-breaking career, Djokovic is targeting several milestones in New York, including a fifth title at Flushing Meadows to equal the professional-era record held by Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer.

He also hopes to become the first men’s singles winner to win two consecutive titles since Federer won five in a row from 2004 to 2008.

Coco Gauff starts her title defense at the US Open with an easy win

Field Level Media — Defending champion Coco Gauff wasted no time in defending her U.S. Open title, defeating first-round opponent Varvara Gracheva of France 6-2, 6-0 in 66 minutes in New York on Monday.

Gauff won her first Grand Slam title last year at Arthur Ashe Stadium and entered this year’s tournament aiming to return to form after a summer of disappointing results.

“When you defend something, it means you’ve won something, and when you’ve done it, it means you can do it again,” Gauff said in her on-court interview. “So whether I do it again this year or not, I’ll do it again. Whether it’s 2024 or not, I’ll do it again.”

Gauff, the number three seed in this week’s main draw, won comfortably against Gracheva, who is ranked 66th in the world. Gauff finished the match with a 10-0 advantage in aces, saved 9 of 9 break points and finished with a 16-5 lead in total wins.

Gauff managed to break Gracheva’s serve twice in the first set to take control, winning the last nine games in a row that spanned the first and second sets.

Gauff, 20, won her 15th match at the US Open, becoming the youngest woman to reach the milestone since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

Gauff reached the second round and met the German Tatjana Maria. Maria won 6:2, 6:3 against the Argentinian Solana Sierra.

The American women got off to a great start in the tournament. 13th seed Emma Navarro, who defeated Gauff at Wimbledon to reach the quarterfinals there, defeated Russia’s Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-1 in 59 minutes. 14th seed Madison Keys defeated Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-1 in 64 minutes.

Other Americans who won on Monday were Peyton Stearns, Taylor Townsend and 16-year-old Iva Jovic, who beat Poland’s Magda Linette in straight sets in her Grand Slam debut. However, 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens lost 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 to France’s Clara Burel.

On a packed first day of main draw action in New York, it didn’t take long for the first top-10 seed to be eliminated. Greece’s Maria Sakkari, seeded number nine, lost her first set 6-2 to China’s Yafan Wang before retiring due to a shoulder injury that had led to her withdrawal from recent tournaments in Toronto and the Cincinnati area.

Wang’s next opponent will be Frenchwoman Diane Parry, who defeated Chinese player Xiyu Wang 7:6 (2), 7:6 (5).

China’s seventh seed Qinwen Zheng hit 12 aces and saved 8 of 12 break points en route to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over American junior Amanda Anisimova. Zheng then faced Russia’s Erika Andreeva, who recovered in the second set tiebreak to defeat China’s Yue Yuan 6-3, 7-6 (7).

German Jule Neimeier won 6:4, 6:7 (3), 6:4 against number 32 Dayana Yastremska from Ukraine. Other winners were Barbora Krejcikova (No. 8) from the Czech Republic, Daria Kasatkina (No. 12) from Russia, Emma Navarro (No. 13) from the United States, Marta Kostyuk (No. 19) from Ukraine, Victoria Azarenka (No. 20) from Belarus, Donna Vekic (No. 24) from Croatia, Paula Badosa (No. 26) from Spain, Elina Svitolina (No. 27) from Ukraine and Ekaterina Alexandrova (No. 29) from Russia.

Also progressing were Greet Minnen and Elise Mertens from Belgium, Anhelina Kalinina from Ukraine, Moyuka Uchijima from Japan, Harriet Dart from Great Britain, Elena-Gabriela Ruse from Romania, Lucia Bronzetti from Italy and the Australians Maya Joint and Ajla Tomljanovic.

In the final match of the evening, second seed Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka defeated Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon 6-3, 6-3.