NEW YORK
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams cruised into the second round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York Monday in an opening day marked by several upsets.
In the men's category, the Serbian tennis champion Djokovic, who comes off a Grand Slam title win at Wimbledon, overwhelmed the Brazilian Joao Souza -- ranked 91st -- in just 71 minutes, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.
In the first major upset of the day, last year’s finalist and fourth seed Kei Nishikori was defeated 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6 by Benoit Paire of France.
The 26-year-old Frenchman will take on Turkey's Marsel Ilhan, 28, in the second round.
The Turk, who is ranked 83rd in the world, was in command leading two-sets-to-one in the fourth when Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic succumbed to an apparent injury that forced him to retire. The match ended 6-0, 2-6, 6-4, 3-2.
Following the victory, Ilhan said he was happy to defeat an experienced player such as Stepanek, who was ranked eight in the world in the past.
"This year, I reached the main draw after winning very important matches. I hope that I will rank in the first 50 at the end of this year," Ilhan told Anadolu Agency.
Defending champion Marin Cilic and the Spaniard Rafael Nadal had comfortable wins against their opponents.
In women's tennis, top seed Serena Williams needed only 21 minutes of playing time to cruise into the second round, after her 86th-ranked Russian challenger, Vitalia Diatchenko, trailing 6-0, 2-0, retired due to injury.
However, three top rivals of Williams exited the tournament in the first round.
Serbian seventh seed and former world number one Ana Ivanovic suffered a 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 loss at the hands of 50th-ranked Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.
World number eight Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic and tenth seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain also lost to their opponents, leaving 12th seed Belinda Bencic, Swiss, the second highest-ranked player in Williams's half of the draw.
- Results (selected) -
Men's single:
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) [1] - Joao Souza (Brazil): 3-0 (6-1, 6-1, 6-1)
Kei Nishikori (Japan) [4] - Benoit Paire (France): 2-3 (4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6)
David Ferrer (Spain) [7] - Radu Albot (Moldova): 3-1 (4-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0)
Rafael Nadal (Spain) [8] - Borna Coric (Croatia): 3-1 (6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4)
Marin Cilic (Croatia) [9] - Guido Pella (Argentina): 3-0 (6-3, 7-6, 7-6)
Milos Raonic (Canada) [10] - Tim Smyczek (USA): 3-0 (6-4, 7-6, 6-1)
Women's single:
Serena Williams (USA) [1] - Vitalia Diatchenko (Russia) [retired]: 2-0 (6-0, 2-0)
Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) [7] - Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia): 1-2 (3-6, 6-3, 3-6)
Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) [8] - Anna Tatishvili (USA): 0-2 (2-6, 1-6)
Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) [10] - Denisa Allertova (Czech Republic): 0-2 (1-6, 6-7)
Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) [12] - Sesil Karatantcheva (Bulgaria): 2-0 (6-1, 6-2)
Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) [15] - Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic): 2-0 (6-2, 6-3)
