TENNIS/US Open:World number one Justine Henin opened her challenge for a second US Open women's singles title by whipping German qualifier Julia Goerges 6-0, 6-3 in just 62 minutes at the National Tennis Centre in New York's Flushing Meadows yesterday.
Henin, a six-times grand slam champion and 2003 champion here, landed only 44 per cent of her first serves but was never broken in the contest.
There were no major upsets on the opening day of the final grand slam of the year, played on the hardcourts under gloriously sunny skies.
Third seed Jelena Jankovic looked out of rhythm during a 6-2, 7-6 triumph over Jarmila Gajdosova of Slovakia.
British men's hope Andy Murray made a confident start to his campaign as he raced into the second round with a straight-sets victory over Uruguayan qualifier Pablo Cuevas.
Murray, whose season has been on hold since injuring his right wrist in May, showed few signs of rust as he dominated proceedings on the Grandstand court.
Murray, who had missed both the French Open and Wimbledon during his time on the sidelines, won the match 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 in an hour and 43 minutes.
His victory sets up a second-round tie against either Juan-Pablo Guzman of Argentina or Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman.
Murray's coach Brad Gilbert had said before the match that his charge, seeded 19th at the US Open, was pain-free and had been practicing well since arriving in New York last week.
Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko also advanced easily with a 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 drubbing of American wildcard Jesse Levine.
Davydenko, however, continued to be hounded by questions concerning a match earlier this month in Poland when he retired midway through the contest against Martin Vassallo-Arguello.
British betting exchange company Betfair voided all bets on the match after they spotted unusual patterns of betting, with around €5 million of bets placed and taken on Vassallo-Arguello, around 10 times the amount they would have expected, even though the Argentinian was ranked about 80 places lower at the time.
Davydenko won the first set but his price drifted - the opposite to what would normally be expected - and the Russian eventually retired with an injury early in the third set.
Davydenko confirmed he will be interviewed by investigators with regard to the match.
"It's coming after the China Open (in September)," Davydenko said of the interview with investigators. "I can't do anything now because I play every week. The ATP doesn't try to push me also. For me, it's very good. I can play tennis now."
Davydenko, who again denied having anything to do with the scandal, said he was finding it hard to concentrate on his tennis.
"It's pretty tough for me that somebody is talking about gambling," he said. "I am in this position now where I'm a top player, (but) fans and everybody sees me as like a bad guy, who gambles. For me it's pretty tough."
MEN'S SINGLES: First round: (4) N Davydenko (Rus) bt J Levine (USA) 6-4 6-0 6-1; I Andreev (Rus) bt R Kendrick (USA) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-4; F Lopez (Spn) bt (21) JC Ferrero (Spn) 6-3 6-4 6-4; D Young (USA) bt C Guccione (Aus) 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-2 6-3; R De Voest (Rsa) bt T Ascione (Fra) 6-2 3-0 ret; (13) R Gasquet (Fra) bt S Roitman (Arg) 7-5 6-1 6-2; M Mirnyi (Blr) bt (18) M Baghdatis (Cyp) 6-3 7-5 3-6 7-6 (8-6); (9) T Berdych (Cze) bt M Gicquel (Fra) 6-3 7-6 (7-0) 6-2; S Grosjean (Fra) bt P Goldstein (USA) 6-1 4-1 ret; (19) A Murray (Bri) bt P Cuevas (Uru) 6-2 6-3 6-0; S Bolelli (Ita) bt J Benneteau (Fra) 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-1; (1) R Federer (Swi) bt S Jenkins (USA) 6-3 6-2 6-4.
WOMEN'S SINGLES: First round: (10) M Bartoli (Fra) bt AN Glatch (USA) 6-1 6-1; S Errani (Ita) bt R Voracova (Cze) 7-5 6-3; (28) A Sugiyama (Jpn) bt A Klepac (Svk) 6-3 6-1; (15) D Safina (Rus) bt C Castano (Col) 6-2 6-3; E Likhovtseva (Rus) bt L Albanese (USA) 6-0 6-2; E Makarova (Rus) bt J Schruff (Ger) 6-1 0-6 6-2; O Govortsova (Blr) bt S Arvidsson (Swe) 6-3 2-6 6-3; (3) J Jankovic (Ser) bt J Gajdosova (Svk) 6-2 7-6 (7-2); (27) V Zvonareva (Rus) bt A Jidkova (Rus) 6-0 6-7 (5-7) 6-0; K Bondarenko (Ukr) bt V Ruano Pascual (Spa) 6-3 7-6 (7-4); (1) J Henin (Bel) bt J Goerges (Ger) 6-0 6-3; (20) L Safarova (Cze) bt J Moore (Aus) 6-3 6-2; A Cornet (Fra) bt (29) S Stosur (Aus) 6-3 6-2; (19) S Bammer (Aut) bt T Tanasugarn (Tha) 6-4 6-4; A Petkovic (Ger) bt A Cohen (USA) 6-4 6-1; T Pironkova (Bul) bt O Poutchkova (Rus) 6-3 6-4; A Rezai (Fra) bt J Cravero (Arg) 6-3 7-5.
