NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Highlights from the first day of the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows on Monday (times GMT):
0411 SABALENKA STORMS PAST HON
Former finalist Aryna Sabalenka defeated Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon 6-3 6-3. The second-seeded Belarusian will face Italian Lucia Bronzetti in the second round.
0357 DJOKOVIC GOES IMMEDIATELY INTO THE SECOND ROUND
Defending champion Novak Djokovic easily defeated Moldovan Radu Albot 6:2, 6:2, 6:4 and reached the second round.
0230 TIAFOE DEFEATS KOVACEVIC
Former semifinalist Frances Tiafoe defeated fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 at Louis Armstrong Stadium to secure a second-round match against Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko.
0124 BUREL ANNOYS STEPHENS
France’s Clara Burel recovered from a bagel in the first set to beat former champion Sloane Stephens 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 and set up a second-round match against Victoria Azarenka.
0109 AZARENKA STRIKES BACK
Two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka from Belarus beat Yulia Starodubtseva 3:6, 6:1, 6:1. There was no handshake at the net between the 20th-seeded Azarenka and her Ukrainian opponent.
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0001 KREJCIKOVA COMES FORWARD
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova started her campaign well by defeating Spanish qualifier Marina Bassols Ribera 7-6(3), 6-2 in the first round.
2333 NAKASHIMA SHOCKS RUNE IN EVEN SETS
American Brandon Nakashima took a stunning 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory over 15th seed Holger Rune of Denmark to reach the second round.
2240 MONFILS TRIUMPHS, SCHWARTZMAN SAYS GOODBYE
Frenchman Gael Monfils came back from a set down to reach the second round with a 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victory over former quarterfinalist and Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who played his last match at the US Open.
2212 MUSETTI DEFEATS OPELKA
Italian Lorenzo Musetti, seeded 18th, needed almost three hours to win 7-6(3) 1-6 6-1 7-5 against American Reilly Opelka.
2209 DIMITROV DOWNS JACKET
Ninth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov easily advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over French qualifier Kyrian Jacquet.
2108 FORMER FINALIST PROCEEDS
American Madison Keys, seeded 14th and a 2017 finalist, defeated Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second round.
Keys will now play American-born Australian Maya Joint after the 18-year-old qualifier defeated German Laura Siegemund 6-4, 7-5 in her Grand Slam singles debut.
2008 RUBLEV GOES TO THE NEXT ROUND
Sixth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev defeated Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild 6:3, 7:6(3), 7:5 to reach the second round.
1944: Fritz competes against Berrettini
American Taylor Fritz, seeded 12th, celebrated a 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the first round.
Fritz will play against Matteo Berrettini in the second round after the Italian defeated Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(2), 6-2 and 6-3.
1940 Defending champion Gauff strolls into the second round
Third-seeded American and last year’s winner Coco Gauff effortlessly mastered her first-round match, winning 6-2 and 6-0 against Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva.
Gauff will next face Tatjana Maria after the German defeated Argentinian Solana Sierra 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the second round.
1902 RUUD REACHES THE SECOND ROUND
Eighth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud, 2022 finalist, defeated Chinese Bu Yunchaokete 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the second round.
1806 ZVEREV WINS ALL-GERMAN GAME
German fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev defeated fellow countryman and lucky loser Maximilian Marterer 6:2, 6:7(5), 6:3, 6:2 and reached the second round.
1804 SHELTON BEATS FORMER CHAMPION THIEM
American 13th seed Ben Shelton, last year’s semifinalist, claimed a comfortable 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Austrian wildcard and former champion Dominic Thiem to reach the second round.
Thiem, who won the 2020 US Open, will retire at the end of this season.
1730 QINWEN COMEBACK DEFEATS ANISIMOVA
Seventh-seeded Chinese Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen came back from a set down to defeat American wildcard Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
1729 SVITOLINA SURVIVES THE CARLE SCARE
Ukrainian Elina Switolina, seeded 27th and a semi-finalist in 2019, advanced to the second round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Argentinian Maria Lourdes Carle.
1728 HUMBERT EASILY PASSES MONTEIRO
Frenchman Ugo Humbert, seeded 17th, advanced to the second round after a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.
1625 KASATKINA GOES INTO THE SECOND ROUND
Russian Daria Kasatkina, seeded 12th, easily advanced to the second round with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Romanian Jaqueline Cristian.
1550 SAKKARI RETREATS AGAINST WANG
Ninth-seeded Greece’s Maria Sakkari retired from her debut due to injury after losing the first set 2-6 to China’s Yafan Wang in her first round match.
Wang broke in the opening game to take a 5-1 lead. Sakkari needed a medical timeout to treat her shoulder and was unable to continue.
1500 GAMES IN RUN
The game began in New York under partly cloudy skies and a temperature of around 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit).
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Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare, Trevor Stynes, Janina Nuno Rios and Shifa Jahan; Editing by Ed Osmond, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Peter Rutherford
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