Top-seed Pliskova rolls over first-round opponent

NEW YORK: First seed Karolina Pliskova got a roaring start to her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open on Monday, downing first-round opponent Anhelina Kalinina 6-4 6-0 to kick off the action in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 28-year-old Czech, who led the WTA in aces in four of the last five years, struggled with an uncharacteristically uneven serve in the first set, committing three double faults to give her unseeded opponent a fighting chance.

But Pliskova, the 2016 US Open runner-up, found her footing in the second set, winning all her first-serve points and committing just one unforced error, as her Ukrainian opponent was left scrambling.

“I think my game was quite good for a first round,” said Pliskova, the world number three, who played in front of empty stands with crowd noise piped in as the tournament is being held without fans due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“For sure I prefer to have people around me,” she added.

Former champion Angelique Kerber returned to action for the first time in seven months and beat Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4 6-4 on to reach the second round. The 17th-seeded German, who entered the match having not competed since the fourth round of the Australian Open, overcame a shaky start on serve and got better as the 88-minute match at Louis Armstrong Stadium wore on.

Kerber, a three-times Grand Slam champion who triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 2016, traded breaks with Tomljanovic through the first four games of the match and then found her footing to take over the match.

The German southpaw converted all three break point chances to pull ahead 5-4 and then went on to serve out at love to grab the first set.

In the second, Kerber settled into a groove and broke her opponent twice before sealing the win on her third match point when a Tomljanovic forehand sailed long. Marketa Vondrousova was the first winner of a match at the 2020 US Open — and of any Grand Slam match since early February.

The 2019 French Open runner-up, who is seeded 12th in New York, beat Greet Minnen 6-1, 6-4.

Masks, soap machines and mini-golf: Gone are the crush of fans seeking selfies with their favorite player, the distant cheers from an outer court as a baseline forehand lands inside and the warm embrace between competitors at the end of a match. In their place are hand sanitizer machines, daily temperature checks and virtual hugs, making for a sterile atmosphere at the 2020 US Open -- the first Grand Slam to take place in the COVID-19 era.

The US National tennis Center in New York normally buzzes with energy and excitement during Open week, but not this year, with the tournament occurring in a spectator-free quarantine bubble.

Match-winning shots were met with virtual silence in eerily empty stadia as play got under way Monday, while players were free to mill around the Flushing Meadows site without being swamped by autograph hunters.

Competitors, officials, and the handful of journalists in the bubble, including AFP, wear masks as they move gingerly around the grounds, careful to keep six feet apart.

“You can sense that around the site there is a certain tension because everyone is obviously being careful,” said Novak Djokovic following his Western and Southern Open win at Flushing on Saturday.

The tennis center has been thoroughly scrubbed since it housed an emergency field hospital at the peak of New York’s coronavirus outbreak in April.

Hand sanitizer machines dot the grounds, as do posters reminding players that hugs and fist bumps are banned. Quick elbow taps are allowed.

Organizers are limiting locker rooms to 30 players at one time, with competitors encouraged to shower and head outside quickly where activities including basketball hoops await. Mini-golf, pool and chess are other games available to try to keep players outdoors when they are killing time.

“It’s pretty sad because usually this place is just filled with energy and atmosphere,” said Andy Murray.

Agencies