Holders Djokovic and Gauff off to winning start, Sabalenka sails

Defending champion Novak Djokovic eased into the second round of the US Open with a straight-sets victory over qualifier Radu Albot on Monday as Coco Gauff launched her defence of the women’s title with a convincing victory.

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the second round with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon, whereas world number one Iga Swiatek launched her bid for a second Grand Slam title of 2024 with a 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) victory over determined lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova.

Djokovic, seeking his 25th Grand Slam title and his first since his victory at Flushing Meadows last year, wasn’t his sharpest self.

But he was more than a match for 138th-ranked Albot, breaking the Moldovan six times on the way to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory.

He notched a men’s record 78th match win on Arthur Ashe Stadium, where he said the ‘electric’ energy of the night session was unlike any other.

Seeded second behind Jannik Sinner, Djokovic is vying to become the first man to repeat in New York since Roger Federer won five straight US Opens from 2004-2008.

He’s coming off an emotional triumph at the Paris Olympics, but Djokovic has yet to capture a Grand Slam title this year.

He had 10 double faults among 40 unforced errors, but was nevertheless in full control throughout the two hour, seven minute contest that ended shortly before midnight.

Gauff, meanwhile, powered into the second round with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over France’s Varvara Gracheva.

The 20-year-old American fired 10 aces and needed just 66 minutes to beat 66th-ranked Gracheva. She saved eight break points -- including two with aces in the final game.

Swiatek triumphs: Broken as she served for the match, Swiatek trailed 6-3 in the second-set tiebreaker, saving three set points as she won the last five to close out the match against her 104th-ranked opponent.

Swiatek, the 2022 US Open champion, candidly revealed she carried ‘too much baggage’ in her New York title defence last year.

She looked anything but weighed down, however, as she raced to a 4-0 lead.

Rakhimova, one day shy of her 23rd birthday, then won three straight games, but her spirited fightback was hindered by some untimely double faults and Swiatek responded.

Unable to convert a set point against the hard-hitting Russian’s serve in the ninth game Swiatek served out the first set with authority, delivering two aces for triple-set point and sealing it with a backhand winner.

After saving a break point in the second game of the second set, Swiatek broke Rakhimova in the third game. But her troubles weren’t over. Serving for the match she was broken as Rakhimova leveled the second set at 5-5, then piled on the pressure in the tiebreaker.

American Ben Shelton opened the action on Ashe with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over 2020 champion Dominic Thiem.

Shelton’s triumph marked an end to Thiem’s Grand Slam career, the Austrian having announced he would retire at the end of 2024 after several injury-plagued seasons.

Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany needed four sets to get past lucky loser Maximilian Marterer 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-2.

Sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev beat Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 and eighth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway advanced with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-2 win over China’s Bu Yunchaokete.

Ruud next faces French veteran Gael Monfils, who beat Diego Schwartzman 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in the Argentinian’s final Grand Slam appearance as he heads into retirement.

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, seeded eighth, eased into the second round with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 victory over Spanish qualifier Marina Bassols Ribera.

Olympic women’s singles gold medallist Zheng Qinwen of China, seeded seventh, rallied from a set down to beat Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Agence France-Presse