Two sets to one up, then 6-2, 6-1 gone
Mariano Navone arrived at Flushing Meadows without a seeding next to his name and left Sunday having knocked out Novak Djokovic: 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Djokovic was the No. 4 seed and a four-time champion here. He lost the opening tie-break, then reeled off the next two sets under a closed roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium and looked to be in complete control of the evening.
The last two sets took the Argentine barely an hour. Rain had stopped play on the outside courts at around 8:05 p.m. local time, but the roof kept this one going, which is one way of saying Djokovic had nowhere to hide.
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Medvedev had last year to answer for
Daniil Medvedev came into New York carrying a grudge against the tournament itself. Twelve months ago the No. 7 seed lost in the first round to Benjamin Bonzi in five sets and was fined for his conduct, on a night already derailed when a photographer wandered onto court as Bonzi served for the match.
This time he was brutally efficient. Hugo Gaston, a French qualifier, was beaten 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 14 minutes.
Ten aces to nil. Thirty-eight of 46 first-serve points won, 82.6%. One break point faced, one saved. He plays the winner of wild card Sebastian Gorzny and Belgium’s Raphael Collignon next.
“The last few weeks haven’t been easy,” said the 2021 champion, who had gone out in his opening match at Winston-Salem the week before.
Norrie undone by a serve he could not read
Luca Van Assche won 49 of his 58 first-serve points against Cameron Norrie. That is 84.5%, against 57.3% for the British No. 29 seed, and it explains a 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 result between two players five places apart in the ATP rankings.
Tommy Paul, the No. 20 seed and the leading American in action on Sunday, needed four sets to see off Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. Wong hit 15 aces and came from 5-3 down to take the first.
Jiri Lehecka, Arthur Rinderknech and Tomas Martin Etcheverry all advanced without drama.
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