The United States Open kicked off on a warm, clear day in New York on Monday. The tournament has been highly anticipated as with it, comes a sense that there are numerous players who could walk away with hardware at the end of the fortnight.

Djokovic Advances

Top-seed Novak Djokovic survived but did not look to be anywhere near his best in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over Jerzy Janowicz.

The Serb received an early visit from a trainer who attended to his right arm but he appeared to shake it off and won the first set. He seemed to have control in the second set but did not put the Pole away and Janowicz struck back to even the match as he fired some big groundstroke winners.

In the third set, the defending champion began to show signs that there could be an issue once again. Striking first serves clocked well below his average speed, he began to look out of sorts. But he steadied himself and benefited as Janowicz appeared to wear down. The 25-year old has been out of consistent action for some time due to injury and is still working himself back into game shape.

Djokovic quickly closed out the match in the fourth set and appeared to be in good spirits as he imitated opening night performer, Phil Collins, in his post-match interview.  However, his performance and injury status left some unanswered questions afterward. He refused to address them courtside, “I don't think it's necessary to talk about this now. I'm through. I'm taking it day by day.”

Isner Survives Scare

John Isner recently lost the title of Top-American to Steve Johnson and nearly lost an opening round match to another American, Frances Tiafoe, on Monday. But he rallied to advance with a 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 7-6 epic win.

After controlling the first two sets, Tiafoe appeared to be on his way to a straight sets victory, breaking his compatriot early in the third. But the veteran continued to plug away and leaned on his huge serve to work back into the match. Isner finished with 35 aces on the day. As the set advanced to a tiebreak, Isner had to dig deep, once again, after falling to a 1-3 deficit. He was able to fight back and take a set that looked nearly out of his grasp more than once.

The fourth-set was won in typical Isner style, behind big strikes and dominance in his service games. But Tiafoe gained treading in the fifth set and the match teetered back and forth until the young American broke to gain a 5-3 advantage. But as he served to close out the match, the veteran fought back, racing out to a 0-40 lead in the game and eventually got back on serve. The set advanced to a deciding tiebreak where Isner took full control to take a match that lasted 3 hours, 31 minutes, after a gallant effort by his opponent.

Isner had nothing but praise for Tiafoe, ““It was an absolute pleasure to play out here in front of you fans and an absolute pleasure to play against Frances. He’s a hell of a player and a class act.” Meanwhile, the young American spoke of the support he received from the New York crowd, who chanted his name throughout the match, “It was the best atmosphere I’ve ever played on in my life. It’s an unbelievable time I had playing tennis today..you guys made this match unbelievably fun for me.”

Nadal Breezes into the Second Round

The injured wrist that has kept Rafael Nadal out of tournaments such as Wimbledon, is not breaking news. But despite the fact that he is still not fully healed, it was not reflected at the Rio Olympics where he won a gold medal in doubles and made a nice run in singles, as well. The injury didn’t appear to be a factor on Monday either, as Nadal cruised to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory against Denis Istomin.

Nadal continued to stress that his wrist is a work in progress, “I am hitting very well the backhand, but it's true that the forehand I need time. I need confidence and I need to keep practicing the forehand,” he said. “It's not easy to go two months-and-a-half out of competition in the middle of the season without hitting a forehand. I need to have the confidence again with my wrist. That is coming, because I feel the wrist much better, and every day feel that the wrist is a little bit better. That's very important thing for me. The most important thing.”

Puig Falls in First Round

It is not surprising that after her tremendous, groundbreaking effort to win the gold medal in Rio, that a letdown might be in store for Monica Puig. It came on Monday against Saisai Zheng in the first round, 4-6, 2-6.

It was a tough day at the office for the Puerto Rican who misfired with 28 unforced errors and she struggled with her serve throughout. Zheng played a clean, consistent match and broke Puig four times in the two-setter.

Kerber Rolls

2nd-seeded Angelique Kerber, who hopes to not only win the US Open title but unseat Serena Williams as world no. 1 advanced in Arthur Ashe Stadium. She was leading 6-0, 1-0 when Polona Hercog was forced to retire due to cramps. Hercog won just 9 points in the 33 minutes of tennis played.

Kerber admitted that it is a goal to become the world no. 1 but she has attempted to focus on her game, “To be one day number one, I think this is a goal for everybody, especially also for me,” she said. “But I will not put too much pressure on myself because I know that when I put the pressure on, I'm not playing my tennis then.”