US Open officials cancel 44 singles matches and postpone completion of 11 others underway due to rain in New York
Wednesday 30 August 2017 07:54, UK
World No 1 Rafael Nadal recovered from a shaky start to beat Dusan Lajovic in his opening match at the US Open on Tuesday.
After a sluggish run-up to the final major of the year that included a shock round-of-16 loss to Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov in Montreal and another to Australian Nick Kyrgios in the Cincinnati quarter-finals, Nadal initially looking uncomfortable under the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof against the 85th-ranked Serb
But the Spaniard improved to 13-0 in first-round matches at Flushing Meadows to keep up hopes of a collision course for a long overdue New York semi-final showdown with Roger Federer.
He was embroiled in a first set that lasted more than an hour when Lajovic broke Nadal's serve in the third game and maintained his advantage until he served for the first set at 5-4.
Nadal responded with a break to love but let a 3-0 lead in the tie-break slip away before double-faulting on his first set point.
The relief was evident when he took the second one and from there the 15-time Grand Slam relaxed while Lajovic could not maintain the same level, wrapping up victory in two hours and 16 minutes.
"When I was down in the first set, I just tried to be there as he was playing well and controlling the points," said Nadal. "But the end of the first set was very important. I got the break back and after that, everything changed."
Nadal's second-round opponent will be either American wild card Tommy Paul or Taro Daniel of Japan.
Steady rain prompted US Open officials to cancel 44 singles matches and postpone completion of 11 others under way when showers halted play on the New York hardcourts.
A US Open statement said weather forecasts predicted "continuous rain throughout the remainder of the day," prompting the wipe-out of matches other than those being played under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
British No 3 Aljaz Bedene was one of the players affected, with his match against Russia's Andrey Rublev cancelled, and the pair will have to try again on Wednesday.
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