The 2013 U.S. Open Grand Slam Championship is underway at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York and although conditions are once again wet, the first round has come to a close. Usual suspects Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams - the top 2 seeds on the men's and women's draws - continue to play well heading into the second round while major champions Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Victoria Azarenka have all advanced to the second stage of the year's finishing grand slam event.
No. 1 Serena Williams and No. 2 Victoria Azarenka blitzed through their opening rounds in straight sets with Djokovic, No. 2 Nadal, No. 4 David Ferrer and No. 7 Roger Federer enjoying clean sweeps to start their runs as well. 32-year-old Roger Federer is a five-time U.S. Open champion and while it may be unusual to see the Swiss native seeded somewhat low, the 17-time Grand Slam champion certainly feels good after disposing of Slovenia's Grega Zemlja in the first round.
"I felt great," Federer said shortly after the three-set victory. "Day session or night session it doesn't really matter when you play on Arthur Ashe Court. You're going to have some hiccups like I had today. It was a minor one. I might have had more confidence if I had closed it out without that. This way I had to fight a bit more. Who knows? Maybe that gives me confidence too."
While Federer was pleased with his 2013 Open debut, World No. 1 and 2011 U.S. Open champion Novak Djokovic felt his ability to take control of his match against Ricardas Berankis was key to his dominance along with his ability to control the service game, slamming his opponent with 10 aces and 28 winners.
"I managed to make a lot of breaks in the beginning of the match and take over control," Djokovic said. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to play every point like its match point and I'm happy with the performance overall."
Other Notable First Round Performances
The top-ranked woman in the world, Serena Williams to play at an extremely high level. The 16-time major champion and 2013 French Open winner made quick work of former Grand Slam champion Francesca Schiavone in the opening round, eliminating her opponent 6-0, 6-1 to set up a second round tango with Russia's Galina Voskoboeva.
"I knew playing a former Grand Slam champion in the first round was a really, really tough draw," Williams said. "So I tried to be super serious."
While Serena Williams was dominating her opponent, World No. 2 Victoria Azarenka also looked fully capable of adding to her major championship accomplishments. The only player to defeat Serena twice this season, Azarenka is certainly confident in her ability to take down the world's top player especially since seeding doesn't matter once the U.S. Open rolls around.
"It gives you great confidence," she said to ESPN about her ability to take down Serena. "But I always think that the new week is the new story. You can always take the best out of what happened last week and six months ago, so I will definitely take that into consideration. But the new week is the US Open and Serena is the No. 1 player in the world, defending champion. We all start from zero here."
Wrap Up
With the second round underway, the world's best continue to make their charges toward a United States Open Championship. A tournament that started on August 26, the current Grand Slam event will reach the championship round on Monday, September 9.
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