Tennis: Roger Federer showed that time was still on his side as the Swiss master rang the closing bell on the opening day at the US Open with a quick victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Federer completed a clockwork 6-4 6-3 6-2 win over Santiago Giraldo to the delight of the Flushing Meadows night crowd.
The 106-minute sweep was the first step in Federer's quest to add to his grand slam record of 16 men's singles titles with a sixth U.S. Open crown.
Federer, who equalled Andre Agassi’s tally of 224 grand slam match wins, second only to Jimmy Connors’ 233, loves the night sessions and he was content with his display.
He said: “It’s always one of those moments you train for, to get on the first night of the US Open. You try to put on a good show and I was able to play a good match today, so I’m pleased. It could have been swifter maybe but I’m happy.”
Federer put his slight struggles down to adjusting to the slower pace of the courts this year, which he admits he is not a fan of. The world number three added: “You’re not getting many free points on your serve and maybe that was part of the inconsistent play over the first two sets.
“It’s just unfortunate maybe that all the slams are too equal. This should feel very different to the Australian Open and it doesn’t. I don’t think it’s really what tennis needs.”
World number one Novak Djokovic has declared himself fit and ready to challenge
for a third grand slam title. The Serb, who meets Ireland’s Conor Niland in the first round, retired during the second set of his final against Andy Murray in the Cincinnati Masters last weekend with a shoulder injury but is confident that has now fully recovered.
Djokovic said: “My shoulder is feeling fine. I had a little trouble in Cincinnati throughout the whole week, and I carried that up to the finals. It was unfortunate to finish the match against Murray that way but I think it was the right decision, because I needed not to risk any further major injuries.
“So I decided to take some time off and went to have an MRI, and everything is fine. I have been serving the last couple of days, playing 100%, so I’m ready for the tournament.”
Djokovic has had a stunning year, winning 57 out of 59 matches, including the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon to race past Rafael Nadal to the top of the rankings.
He is the first player other than the Spaniard or 16-time major champion Federer to be the top seed at a grand slam since Andy Roddick at the Australian Open in 2004, but Djokovic is certainly not about to write off his main rivals.
He said: “Both of them are playing incredible tennis still. Even though maybe Roger didn’t have as successful a year as he had in the last five, six years, I still think he’s playing really well.
“I’m sure he’s very motivated to come back to number one. Out of all of us, he knows the best how to win the major events because he’s the record holder. And Rafa is an unbelievable player that is very complete and that can perform equally well on all surfaces. He has proven that.
“We have played in five finals this year. I’ve had the edge on all these matches, but that doesn’t mean that I will win every single next match that we play in. The fact is they have been the two most dominant players in the world. Even though I’m number one, they are the two most successful players that are active in today’s tennis.”
Mardy Fish wasted no time in reaching the second round as he demolished German Tobias Kamke 6-2 6-2 6-1. The start of play was delayed for two hours and the schedule altered slightly to allow New York’s transport system to get back to something like normal after Hurricane Irene, and Fish was certainly a man in a hurry.
The 29-year-old has enjoyed a brilliant last 12 months, climbing to eighth in the world, and he had far too much quality for Kamke, finishing the job in an hour and 43 minutes.
There was disappointment for another American, though, as teenager Ryan Harrison was well beaten by Croatian 27th seed Marin Cilic on Louis Armstrong Stadium. After his 6-2 7-5 7-6 (8/6) defeat, the 19-year-old, who beat Ivan Ljubicic at Flushing Meadows last year, said: “I played pretty bad from the beginning of the match. I was serving really poorly and hitting the ball really poorly.”
Cilic now faces another young gun in Wimbledon quarter-finalist Bernard Tomic, who defeated American qualifier Michael Yani 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Ninth seed Tomas Berdych, fresh from a victory over Roger Federer in Cincinnati, had no problem seeing off French qualifier Romain Jouan 6-2 7-6 (7/4) 6-1 while 13th seed Richard Gasquet was impressive in a 6-4 6-4 6-0 win against Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Janko Tipsarevic, Michael Llodra, Marcel Granollers and Alexandr Dolgopolov also made it through on a good day for the seeds.