Roger Federer eased past Grega Zemlja 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday as the seventh seed began with a convincing victory at the US Open.
The Swiss ended with 35 winners and broke on five of 11 chances while sending over 12 aces.
“It felt good, and it’s nice to be back in New York,” Federer said.
“Day or night, it doesn’t really matter. The wind was a bit of an issues but we adjusted.
“Conditions were tricky, we both struggled with rhythm but I’m happy to be through to the next round.” Federer got through a hiccup in the third set when he lost serve for 4-all before getting it back and earning the victory on a second match point, a perfect volley into the far corner.
“I got but broken but there is no choice but to stay calm. I was up two sets to love, thee was no reason to panic. I had to fight a bit more, maybe that give me confidence also.” He next plays Argentine Carlos Berlocq, who beat Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-2.
Djokovic, Berdych through
Top seed Novak Djokovic rolled over Ricardas Berankis 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 for an opening win.
Fifth seed Tomas Berdych came up a winner over Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-1, 6-4, 6-1; 10th seed Milos Raonic, hoping to get past the fourth round of a major for the first time in his career, hammered 28 aces to beat Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.
The Canadian will next play Spain’s Pablo Andujar, a winner over Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Istomin shocks Almagro
Four other seeds split the difference, with number 12 German Tommy Haas putting out Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 and American number 13 John Isner hammering Filippo Volandri 6-0, 6-2, 6-3. Argentine Maximo Gonzalez put out Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz, as the 14th seed suffered with a back injury, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Denis Istomin upset 15th seed Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
Azarenka cruises
In women’s play, second seed Victoria Azarenka produced a crushing of German Dinah Pfizenmaier, 6-0, 6-0.
Italian number four Sara Errani did the same to Australian Olivia Rogowska while Caroline Wozniacki beat China’s Duan Ying-Ying 6-2, 7-5.
There were also opening wins for number 10 Roberta Vinci, 13th seed Ana Ivanovic and number 14 Maria Kirilenko.
Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova survived a fightback from Japan’s Misaki Doi before posting a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win to enter second round.
