Top seeds Novak Djokovic, Karolina Pliskova and Naomi Osaka were among the big names to shrug off the deathly quiet at Flushing Meadows and progress to the second round as a “weird,” spectator-free US Open started on Monday with heightened safety protocols for some players following a positive COVID-19 test.
Several competitors were placed in what one of them described as a “bubble within a bubble” after France’s Benoit Paire was withdrawn from the men’s draw Sunday for testing positive for coronavirus.
Djokovic defeated unheralded Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 as he launched his bid for an 18th Grand Slam with a win at an Arthur Ashe Stadium devoid of 23,000 screaming fans.
The women’s top seed Pliskova made light work of 145th-ranked Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 6-0 in one of the early matches.
Making a statement
Black Lives Matter banners are on display in the main arenas and fourth seed Naomi Osaka wore a Breonna Taylor mask, days after she threatened not to play a semifinal to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, while defeating Japanese compatriot Misaki Doi 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Osaka said she had six other masks bearing the names of black people killed by police that she hoped to wear throughout the Grand Slam.
“So I have seven and it’s quite sad that seven isn’t enough for the amount of names.”
There was disappointment for US starlet Coco Gauff, the 16-year-old who lit up Wimbledon last year with a run to the fourth round. Gauff fell at the first hurdle, losing to Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Men’s fifth seed Alexander Zverev was made to work hard in a three-hour-long tussle with 2017 finalist Kevin Anderson, the German ultimately prevailing 7-6(2) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas eased through with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 win over Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
However, it was a first round exit for ninth-seeded Diego Schwartzman and 16th seed John Isner, both going down in five sets.
