Reportedly, top-ranked Novak Djokovic and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer marched comfortably in the US Open on Tuesday. On the other side, 2011 winner Samantha Stosur was thrashed by US teenager qualifier Victoria Duval.
Moreover, six-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic who clinched his fourth Australian Open victory in January, launched his quest for a fourth consecutive US Open final by ousting 112th-ranked Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania by 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Djokovic explained that he managed to make a lot of breaks at the start of the match and took over control. He added that that's what he wanted to do. In fact, he wanted to play every point like its match point and he is glad with the overall performance.
Overall, Djokovic fired 10 aces plus 28 winners and required just 82 minutes to place himself into a last-64 matchup against Benjamin Becker of Germany. Djokovic, who is the 2011 US Open winner lost to Andy Murray in last year's final and last month's Wimbledon final. However, he improved to 12-1 in Arthur Ashe Stadium night matches, which he called as "the most special night matches of any tournament anywhere in the world."
Duval, who is a daughter of Haitian parents ranked 296th in the world, stunned everyone with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory over 11th seed Stosur of Australia in a stressed struggle that spanned for two hours and 39 minutes. Actually, it was just the 2nd Slam match for Duval, who was defeated by Kim Clijsters last year at New York, which was her first match against a top-20 rival.
Precisely, Stosur made 56 unforced errors, which was 21 more than Duval on her way to a her 15th first-round Slam exit-the first since last year's Australian Open. Stosur remarked that she allowed every single opportunity to slip away and committed too many errors and it really cost her. She added that she needed to step up more and do more. She is not going to be a sore loser and declared she didn't do anything but she definitely helped her out there, that is for sure.
It came to light that Stosur parted with long-time coach David Taylor just before the US Open, but highlighted that she could not say if that was a factor in the loss.
Particularly, Federer made a concrete start to his bid for a sixth US Open title by hammering Grega Zemlja of Slovenia by 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in a match which was delayed a day by rain. The 32-year-old Swiss star as well as the seventh seed, who is at his lowest spot in the US Open since 2002, will encounter Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in round two. Federer, whose 56th Grand Slam start in a row, matched Wayne Ferreira of South Africa for the all-time record, has just one title in his past 14 Slam starts, that came last year at Wimbledon. Following a 2nd-round exit this year at Wimbledon, Federer took just 93 minutes to oust Zemlja even after surrendering a third-set break.
Federer, who has won 5 US Open titles at a stretch from 2004-2008, was unable to make the championship match on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts after losing to Juan Martin Del Potro in the 2009 final. Interestingly, this year Federer is on a quarter-final encounter with second seed Rafael Nadal, with whom he has never locked horns at the US Open.
On the other hand, two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka, who was defeated by Serena Williams in last year's final, ousted Dinah Pfizenmaier of Germany by 6-0, 6-0. Subsequently, the second seed from Belarus will challenge Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.
Astoundingly, Canadian 10th seed Milos Raonic fired 28 aces to defeat Thomas Fabbiano of Italy by 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3. Meanwhile, fellow big server John Isner blasted 16 aces to crush Filippo Volandri of Italy by 6-0, 6-2, 6-3. The 22-year-old Raonic is confident that his first Slam quarter-final is within reach.
Additionally, the seventh seed Czech Petra Kvitova, who is the 2011 Wimbledon winner, outlasted 92nd-ranked Misaki Doi of Japan by 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. Further, sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark as well as the 2009 US Open runner-up, sent out 133rd-ranked qualifier Duan Ying-Ying of China by 6-2, 7-5.
