Diego Schwartzman was a picture of frustration as he sat and watched a later match. Photo / Twitter
Losing on day one of a grand slam is never fun.
Losing on day one after risking your health by travelling to New York amid the COVID-19 pandemic is even worse.
But losing on day one after winning the first two sets and serving eight double faults and hitting 81 unforced errors? That's enough to leave a man shirtless and scratching his head.
Ninth seed Diego Schwartzman was the picture of frustration after coughing up a 3-6 4-6 6-2 6-1 7-5 defeat against Britain's Cam Norrie.
The match included a US Open record 58 break points — Norrie converted 11/31, while Schwartzman broke eight times from 27 opportunities.
"I'm not sure it's too good of a record to be holding, but I think it had a lot to do with how he returns. It was tough to get free points out there," said Norrie, who is ranked 76th in the world.
"It shows that it was just two dogs out there battling with no serves really. It was a good match and I guess I'll take the record."
The four-hour epic was the most thrilling of the early action as grand slam tennis returns in New York.
NO JOKE AS NOVAK ADVANCES
Pre-tournament favourite Novak Djokovic marched into round two of the US Open as he launched his bid for an 18th grand slam with a straight-sets win.
The world No. 1 dispatched unheralded Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina 6-1 6-4 6-1 under floodlights at an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Serbian superstar took just 23 minutes to win the first set before labouring to a narrow victory in an hour-long second set.
With Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer absent, Djokovic is looking to close the gap on them in the race for the all-time men's singles grand slam record.
Djokovic currently has 17, behind Nadal on 19 and Federer on 20.
Fifth seed Alexander Zverev was also made to work hard as he progressed into round two following a three-hour-long tussle with 2017 finalist Kevin Anderson.
The German, seeking his first grand slam title, took the first set on a tie-break 7-6 (7/2) before losing the second 7-5 in an eerily empty Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Ultimately, the 23-year-old proved too much for the South African veteran, winning the third set 6-3 and the fourth 7-5.
Afterwards he shared a moment on a big screen with his tennis-playing brother Mischa Zverev who was beamed into the stadium from his sofa at home.
"I am actually quite happy with a first round like that," said Zverev, who reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open earlier this year.
"Kevin is not someone you usually play in a first round. This is a fourth round, quarter-final, semi-final match normally against him. I am extremely happy to be through," he added.
Earlier, fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas eased into the second round of the Flushing Meadows tournament, which is being played without fans due to coronavirus, with a straight-sets win over Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
The Greek player needed just one hour and 38 minutes to dispose of the world number 41, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1.
The 22-year-old Tsitsipas, sixth on the ATP rankings, will play American wildcard Maxime Cressy after he defeated Slovakian Jozef Kovalik, ranked 123 in the world, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Elsewhere in the men's draw on day one, 12th seed Canadian Denis Shapovalov required four sets to overcome US wildcard Sebastian Korda.
The 21-year-old left-hander won the first set 6-4 before losing the second by the same score. But he rallied to win the next two 6-3, 6-2.
"Playing without the fans is definitely different," Shapovalov said. "You know, I love to use the fans to kind of pump me up. So I had to do that within myself. But I'm getting familiar with it pretty quick," he added.
Frenchman Gilles Simon enjoyed a straightforward victory over Egypt's Mohamed Safwat. The 35-year-old triumphed 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Adrian Mannarino, also of France, defeated Italy's Lorenzo Sonego 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in a match that lasted two hours and 41 minutes.
Australia's Marc Polmans coughed up a two sets to one lead against American Marcos Giron to lose 6-4 6-7 3-6 6-4 6-2 but compatriot Jordan Thompson eased past Italy's Stefano Travaglia 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-2..
World number one and overwhelming favourite Novak Djokovic began his hunt for an 18th Grand Slam on Arthur Ashe Stadium later on Monday.
With Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer absent, Djokovic is looking to close the gap on them in the race for the all-time men's singles Grand Slam record.
NAOMI OSAKA KEEPS TAKING A STAND
Naomi Osaka keeps fighting for racial equality, turning up to her first-round US Open match against Misaki Doi wearing a mask with "Breonna Taylor" written on it.
The world No. 9 brought tennis to a standstill last week when she withdrew from her semi-final of the Western & Southern Open to protest against racial injustice and police brutality.
Osaka took a stand after the police shooting in America of Jacob Blake. Breonna Taylor also died when shot by police in her apartment, and incidents like these have sparked an emotional reaction from the sports world.
"Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach," Osaka said when announcing her decision last week that prompted the tennis tournament to pause all action for an entire day.
"I'm exhausted of having a new hashtag pop up every few days and I'm extremely tired of having this same conversation over and over again.
"When will it ever be enough?"
Osaka wore a "Black Lives Matter" shirt to her next match when she resumed playing in New York and today showed her support via the "Breonna Taylor" face mask.
GAUFF'S TEENAGE DREAM ENDS ON A SOUR NOTE
Coco Gauff was a high-profile casualty early on day one of the US Open, going down in three sets to Anastasija Sevastova.
The 16-year-old sensation, who announced herself with a stunning, giant-killing run at Wimbledon last year, dropped the first set before claiming the second to send the match to a decider.
But Gauff's forehand started to waiver as the match dragged on and No. 31 seed Sevastova took full advantage to secure a 6-3 5-7 6-4 win.
Although ranked six places lower than Sevastova, Gauff will be disappointed to lose as her impressive run at grand slams came to an end. After beating the likes of Venus Williams and Polona Hercog to progress to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2019, she excelled on the big stage, qualifying for the third round of last year's US Open and the fourth round of this summer's Australian Open.
That makes it the first time in her young career Gauff has lost in the first round of a major.
A crowd favourite in her home country in 2019, the American had to try and pump herself up in front of empty stands this time around but couldn't maintain the rage for long enough.
Gauff acknowledged that limited playing opportunities in 2020 due to a tennis calendar up-ended by COVID-19 had impacted her development.
"The main part that hurt was just getting matches under my belt, getting experience," Gauff said when asked to assess the impact of the coronavirus disruption.
"That's what I need on tour. I'm playing against people older than me who have been in more situations, difficult situations, than I have. I think the biggest thing is I just need experience.
"Right now my plan is just to play as many tournaments as I can, to get matches under my belt. I'm still in doubles here, so I'll be here hopefully till the end. That's the goal."
Meanwhile, Aussie Astra Sharma lost to Dayana Yastremska in straight sets in their first-round encounter while top seed Karolina Pliskova shrugged off the eerily quiet atmosphere to reach the second round.
World No. 3 Pliskova, elevated to top seed in the absence of world No. 1 Ash Barty and second-ranked Simona Halep, needed just over an hour to dispose of Ukraine's Anghelina Kalinina.
The Czech ace overcame an early wobble, when Kalinina fought back from 1-4 down to level at 4-4 in the first set, to clinch a 6-4 6-0 victory in just over an hour.
The 28-year-old, a finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2016, will now face France's Caroline Garcia in the second round.
Pliskova, who made a disappointing early exit at last week's ATP/WTA Western & Southern Open tune-up event in New York, said she was adjusting to playing before empty stands at the Open, where spectators are barred because of COVID-19 protocols.
"I felt better than in my previous match, last week," Pliskova said. "I think the centre court is better place to play no matter — I mean, it's still without people, but I just felt somehow a little better.
"And I had a lot of practices on this court, so I felt just quite used to it."
Pliskova's sixth-seeded compatriot Petra Kvitova also advanced safely, downing Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3 6-2.
The 30-year-old two-time Wimbledon champion, who has never gone beyond the quarter-finals in New York, said she was adjusting to the empty stands, as well as tournament regulations which prevent players from sightseeing in the city.
"It's been different, for sure," Kvitova said. "I'm glad that I had a couple of matches before to kind of get used to these new things.
"I really had to get used to being in the bubble. It's something totally different, which I was normally doing — going out for a coffee, sitting in Central Park.
"Suddenly this is not the option."
Elsewhere today, Germany's 17th seed Angelique Kerber, the 2016 US Open champion, booked her second-round berth with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic.
The 32-year-old admitted the fan-free atmosphere had required a mental adjustment.
"It's a little bit weird to play without fans and without the support and the atmosphere on the centre courts," Kerber said.
"It's a little bit like the feeling when you play practice matches against the players. But of course you know it's like a serious game.
"It is more, for me today, it was more also mentally to prepare for the match that I know we play without fans and all the situation. It was not so easy at the beginning, but then, yeah, you get used to it a little bit."
