Night just right as Djokovic eases into US Open second round
Sports
The four-time champion defeated Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
NEW YORK (AFP) – Novak Djokovic and defending women's champion Coco Gauff laucnshed the US Open bid with easy victories on Monday.
Djokovic began his campaign to win a record 25th Grand Slam title with a straight-sets win over Radu Albot.
The four-time champion, playing for the first time since claiming Olympic gold two weeks ago, defeated the Moldovan qualifier 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
Djokovic arrived on Arthur Ashe Stadium for his 40th career night match at the tournament with two gold bags slung over his shoulder in a nod to his recent Olympic success in Paris.
The 37-year-old, who has lost his Australian and French Open titles this year, was barely troubled by 138th-ranked Albot who has never defeated a top 10 player.
His straightforward victory was also a record 78th on the sport's biggest court.
"The night sessions here are the best in the world and since the roof was added, it's got even louder," said Djokovic.
"There's an incredible energy and with the new rule this year that the crowd can move around, there are lot of things happening."
Second seed Djokovic broke for a 3-2 lead in the opener and was a break to the good in the third game of the second.
Albot rallied to level but the Serb superstar raced away with the next four games to open a two sets lead.
Djokovic broke again for a 4-3 lead in the third and wrapped up victory shortly before midnight.
Defending champion Gauff aces Gracheva
Coco Gauff launched her title defence with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Varvara Gracheva, firing 10 aces and saving eight break points to advance.
The 20-year-old American worked through some tight moments early on to polish off the victory in 66 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium, where she captured her first Grand Slam title last year.
She was breezing through the second set when France's Gracheva, ranked 66th in the world, mustered a pair of break points in the final game.
Gauff saved both with aces as she booked a second-round meeting with Tatjana Maria of Germany, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Argentina's Solana Sierra.
"I served well," Gauff said. "Can't ask for a better start into this tournament, so hoping to continue to get better as the week, two weeks go by."
Gauff's build-up to the final Grand Slam of the season has been less than ideal. She fell in the third round at Toronto and lost her first match as the defending champion in Cincinnati.
But she said taking the long view was helping her stay steady as she tries for the first time to defend a major title.
"The last couple of weeks were tough, and I was, like, 'I have to do this and do that.'
"But I don't have to prove anything to anyone except myself," she said.
"Just learning and just realizing that I have a lot left to give this game, and whether that's going to happen this year or in the future, I have many more years coming back here," she said. "And I'm not going to win every year."
She said that perspective, "and just having the belief that I can but not the expectation that I should" win had tamped down the pressure.
So did the confidence in her game that had built practice, despite her disappointing recent results.
"I wasn't surprised about my level because I was practicing really well this week," she said.
"It was a really good practice week. So honestly, I was just telling myself that I'm ready, I had a great practice week, I feel like I'm finding my game, whereas the other two tournaments that I played at, even the practice sessions I was doing, I just felt off.
"I knew based off how I was practicing I can find my game regardless of the scoreline. Then it's just about executing."
