US Open gets underway in New York

The night session at Flushing Meadows was delayed by an hour on Monday, as Phil Collins and his band played as part of a ceremony to open the US Open in what is the world's biggest tennis stadium. The stadium was renovated prior to this year's tournament, including a new retractable roof, which wasn't actually required on Day 1, which featured clear skies and high temperatures.

"It was hard to follow Phil Collins," the world's number one men's player, Novak Djokovic, joked afterwards, referring to the difficulty he had deveating Jerzy Jankowicz of Poland 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

Djokovic, the defending US Open champion, required treatment on his upper right arm just five games into the first set. In the post-match, on-court interview, though, he played down the apparent ailment.

"I don't think it's necessary to talk about this now. I'm through. I'm taking it day by day," he said.

Rafael Nadal, the number five player in the men's rankings, who Djokovic could face in the semifinals, eased past Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-1. 6-4, 6-2.

Fifth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada overcame Germany's Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 to move on to the second round.

Among the other seeded players to advance were Marin Cilic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils.

On the women's side, Germany's Australian Open winner and Olympic silver medalist Angelique Kerber needed just 33 minutes to move into the second round after Polona Hercog of Slovenia quit with Kerber leading 6-0, 1-0.

The French Open champion, Garbine Muguruza, needed courtside treatment after dropping the first set against Belgian qualifier Elise Mertins, before fighting her way to a 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 win.

Other seeded players to advance on the women's side included Robertac Vinci, Madison Keys and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Olympic champion Monica Puig, meanwhile, suffered a first-round defeat to Zheng Saisai of China, 4-6, 2-6.

pfd/sb (AFP, AP, dpa)