NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Defending champion Novak Djokovic and three-times winner Serena Williams each dropped just two games against bewildered opponents at the U.S. Open on Tuesday, leading a procession of top seeds into the second round of the year’s final grand slam.
Joining Djokovic in the winner’s circle at Flushing Meadows were number five Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, number six Tomas Berdych, and former champion Andy Roddick, the 20th seed.
On the women’s side, former world number one Caroline Wozniacki was a first round casualty while second seed Agnieszka Radwanska and number six Angelique Kerber advanced easily. Djokovic took just an hour and 13 minutes to blitz Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 6-1 6-0 6-1 in his first-round match under the lights on a cool evening at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The charismatic Serb’s win was so one-sided that it was difficult to tell if the 2011 U.S. Open champion was that good or Lorenzi had perhaps the worst evening of his life on a tennis court.
“My game was great from the start to the end,” said the second seeded Djokovic, who won three of four majors last year.
“It’s also important for me to try to be as economical with the time I spend on the court as possible, but obviously not underestimating any opponent. “I played really focused, tried to get to the net also. It was great all in all.”
The 69th-ranked Lorenzi said he had trouble with the blustery conditions before a sell-out crowd of nearly 24,000 at cavernous Ashe Stadium.
“I had never played on the center court and there was a lot of wind,” he said. “So sometimes I’d miss an easy ball because the ball was flying a lot. But he’s playing so good. I tried my best.”
Fourth-seeded Williams followed Djokovic on the court and produced a 6-1 6-1 rout of 75th-ranked American Coco Vandeweghe, who committed 22 errors and produced only nine winners against the 30-year-old, 14-times grand slam champion.