Djokovic, Gauff off to winning starts at US Open
Novak Djokovic made a winning return to the US Open, rolling to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Frenchman Alexandre Muller on Monday night. The 23-time Grand Slam champion shook off a late start after an opening-night ceremony, racing through the first set in 23 minutes. “I think the first set I started tremendously well off the blocks,” Djokovic said in his post-match interview. Djokovic missed the tournament last year, not allowed to travel to the US because he is not vaccinated against Covid-19. It was his first match in Flushing Meadows since falling to Daniil Medvedev in the 2021 final, a loss that prevented the Serbian from completing a calendar-year Grand Slam in men's tennis since 1969. Djokovic improved to 17-0 in first-round matches at the US Open and assured he will regain the No. 1 ranking on September 11.  In the women's draw, Coco Gauff knew the perfect word to describe her opening day victory.  “Slow,” Gauff said during her on-court interview, then sort of suppressed a smile and paused for effect, drawing laughter from a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd that rattled her opponent, Laura Siegemund. What Gauff meant was the pace of Siegemund, a 35-year-old qualifier from Germany who took her sweet time between points and never seemed ready to play when the 19-year-old from Florida was.  The sixth-seeded Gauff also could have been referring to her own start to the match, one she eventually turned around and won 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the second round at Flushing Meadows. “I was really patient the whole match. She was going over the time since the first set. I never said anything. I would look at the umpire, and she didn’t do anything,” said Gauff, who got into a lengthy discussion with official Marijana Veljovic in the third set.  “Then obviously the crowd started to notice that she was taking long, so you would hear people in the crowd yelling, 'Time!'" Siegemund cried during her post-match news conference, saying the fans “had no respect for me.” “I am very, very disappointed (by) the way the people treated me today,” said Siegemund, who has won US Open titles in women's doubles and mixed doubles. “This is something that I have to say hurts really bad. There is no doubt that I’m slow... I should be quicker. But at the same time, it’s how I play.” Added Siegemund: “They treated me like I was a bad person.” Looking ready for a serious defence of her US Open title, the No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland won Monday's first match in Ashe. She needed all of 58 minutes to dismiss Rebecca Peterson 6-0, 6-1.  Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who quit in 2020 to start a family with her husband, former NBA player David Lee, came out of retirement and beat Tatiana Prozorova of Russia, 6-3, 6-2. (AP)