Novak Djokovic overcame fatigue, blisters and teenager Learner Tien to reach the second round on Sunday night at the US Open.
The 38-year-old, bidding for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam, made it 19 consecutive wins against Americans at Grand Slams and 19-0 in US Open first-round matches.
But while a 6-1 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 scoreline may appear routine, Djokovic, who was playing his first match since he fell to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon semi-finals, looked anything but comfortable in the closing stages of a second set which lasted 82 minutes.
He also took a medical timeout at the end of the set for treatment to blisters on his foot but ultimately used his experience to set up a second-round clash with another American, Zachary Svajda.
“I started great,” said the seventh seed. “Just over 20 minutes, first set, I felt really good. Then some long games to start the second set, and then I started to feel really (bad) – I don’t know why. I really was surprised how bad I was feeling in the second physically.
“We had long exchanges, but also I dropped my level and made a lot of unforced errors and got him back into the match. I’m glad that I kind of reset myself after second set. And the third set was OK to finish up the match.
“Good thing, two days off now. But it’s slightly a concern. I don’t have any injury or anything. I just struggled a lot to stay in long exchanges and recover after points.”
Rory McIlroy was among those enjoying the early gruelling exchanges having played a round of golf in Atlanta on the same day at the FedExCup won by Tommy Fleetwood and Djokovic initially looked sharp against an opponent nearly
20 years his junior.
Tien announced his talent to the world at the Australian Open in January with a run to the fourth round and is working with former French Open champion Michael Chang.
The 19-year-old forced a set point at 5-4 only for Djokovic to save it with a pinpoint ace, but the Serbian may well have been in real trouble had it gone to one-set all.
But he finished the tie-break strongly and then recovered from an early break down to dominate the third set, becoming the first player in the Open Era to win 75 consecutive matches in the opening round of Grand Slams.
Sabalenka opens defence with win as Eala lights up New York
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Highlights from the US Open opening round clash between Aryna Sabalenka and Rebeka Masarova
Aryna Sabalenka began the defence of her US Open title with a battling win – but the most popular victory of the opening day went to young Filipina Alexandra Eala.
Flushing Meadows is very close to an area of Queens known as Little Manila because of the large Filipino community and they flocked to Grandstand court to cheer on 20-year-old Eala, who is one of the rising stars of the women’s tour.
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Clara Tauson argued with the umpire’s call that Alexandra Eala hit the ball before it crossed the net
The noise levels rose in a dramatic encounter against Danish 14th seed Clara Tauson, which went all the way to a deciding tie-break after Eala clawed her way back from 5-1 down in the third set.
The left-hander saw four match points come and go before eventually taking the tie-break for a 6-3 2-6 7-6 (13-11) victory that was celebrated in raucous fashion.
It made Eala the first woman from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam singles match in the open era, and she said: “It’s so special.
“To be Filipino is something I take so much pride in. I don’t have a home tournament so to be able to have this community here at the US Open, I’m so grateful they made me feel like I’m home.”
Also making history for Asia was Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, who upset 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 4-6 6-4, becoming the first player from her country to win a main draw Slam match for 22 years to set up a meeting with British No 1 Emma Raducanu on Wednesday.
World No 1 Sabalenka did not have all things her own way against Rebeka Masarova but avoided any real danger, claiming a 7-5 6-1 victory.
Sabalenka recovered from an early break down and then showed her defensive skills on a memorable set point to forge ahead, after which she pulled away to victory.
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Sabalenka said the Arthur Ashe crowd gave her goosebumps in her opening round win
The top seed will next face Polina Kudermetova, who became the first winner of the tournament when opponent Nuria Parrizas Diaz retired after only four games.
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