Washington: Defending champion Naomi Osaka returned to the third round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday when her opponent withdrew because of illness.
Osaka had been scheduled to face Olga Danilovic of Serbia in the first match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Instead, the U.S. Tennis Association moved the match between women’s No. 12 seed Simona Halep and Kristina Kucova into that spot.
Earlier, Djokovic brushed aside the resistance of Holger Rune in Arthur Ashe Stadium as he defeated teenager by 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-1, to start his charge for a perfect Grand Slam season at US Open.
The 18-year-old Dane produced some spirited tennis in the second set as he took the second set away from the world number one in a fine fashion. Aside from that second-set heroics, Holger just wasn’t able to capture any chances against Djokovic as the Serbian has now moved six victories from capturing all four Grand Slams in a calendar year.
With this win, the Serb, a three-time champion at the US Open, improves to 76-12 lifetime in Flushing Meadows and snaps the 13-match winning streak of the rising Rune in the process. Novak will now face Dutch qualifier Tallon Griekspoor in the second-round clash.
Meanwhile, world No. 1, Ashleigh Barty of Australia, extended her winning streak to six with a 6-1, 7-6(7) defeat of Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the first round of the US Open in one hour and 28 minutes.
Fresh off the Cincinnati title and seeking her second Grand Slam trophy of the year after Wimbledon, Barty was flawless against the 2010 finalist in the first set, but needed to battle hard and save one set point to eke out a win in the second.
Zvonareva, bidding for her fifth career win against a reigning world No.1 and first since beating Caroline Wozniacki at the 2011 WTA Finals, did not get going until the fag end of the first set. The Russian won just nine points through the first six games to fall behind 1-5, including only three on Barty’s serve.