AN ATP MASTERS SERIES EVENT
11th - 19th OCTOBER
ATP News : 2008
US OPEN: ALMAGRO AND MOYA OK
Djokovic and Roddick made convincing starts.
www.atptennis.com Last year’s finalist and No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic opened his US Open campaign with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Frenchman Arnaud Clement on Wednesday at Flushing Meadows.The 21-year-old Serb fired 14 aces and capitalized on four of seven break points, while not surrendering his own serve at all, to secure the victory after 1 hr., 59 min. as Clement fired a forehand long. Djokovic said: "I put a lot of pressure on him with serving well. I didn't return so well. I had a lot of ups and downs and big frustrations. But it's the first match. It's always the trickiest one, but hopefully the next one will be better." The Belgrade native, who finished runner-up to Roger Federer in his maiden Grand Slam final last year, has enjoyed a stellar 2008 season. He opened with his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open (d. Federer, Tsonga) and has since captured two further titles at the ATP Masters Series events in Indian Wells (d. Fish) and Rome (d. Wawrinka). In the build up to the US Open, the right-hander was a finalist at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati (l. to Murray) and captured the bronze medal (d. Blake) at the Beijing Olympic Games. He now improves to 50-12 for the season, the second best record on the ATP circuit behind Rafael Nadal (71 match wins). He goes on to face American Robert Kendrick, who won his first match in four attempts at the US Open as he defeated Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 7-6(3), 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Kendrick, currently ranked No. 113, has a 2-6 ATP-level record this season but has enjoyed solid results on the Challenger circuit with runner-up finishes at three events. |