(New York) Novak Djokovic has begun his quest for a 25e Grand Slam title by beating Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows on Monday.
Djokovic equaled Roger Federer with his 89e victory in New York.
Seeded second, the Serb was playing for the first time since winning Olympic gold three weeks ago in Paris.
He then completed the last major achievement missing from his CV.
“It’s always a challenge to start a tournament, especially when you haven’t played on this surface for five or six months and you just won gold on clay at the Olympics,” Djokovic said. “I hope to play better and better with every match.”
The 37-year-old improved his record to 18-0 in first-round matches at the US Open.
His record is 89-13 at this tournament, where he has triumphed four times, including last year.
He has never lost before the third round of the US Open.
The retired Federer went 89-14 in New York, winning five straight titles from 2004-08.
In the men’s competition, only Jimmy Connors (98-17) has won more matches than Djokovic and Federer at this event.
Djokovic’s next rival will be his friend and compatriot Laslo Djere.
They met at this tournament last year in the third round, with Djokovic needing five sets to win.
“There will be a Serb in the third round and I hope it will be me,” Djokovic said. “Laslo likes to play on big occasions and he is in exceptional form. I remember that match very well. I will try to do some things even better than that time.”
Albot has a 0-12 record against players from top 10.
Favourite Jannik Sinner will take the stage on Tuesday. The Italian has been in the spotlight since last week when it was announced that he tested positive for steroids twice in March but avoided a suspension.
Several seeded players posted convincing victories on Monday.
Andrey Rublev (No. 6), Norway’s Casper Ruud (No. 8), Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov (No. 9), Americans Taylor Fritz (No. 12) and Ben Shelton (No. 13), France’s Ugo Humbert (No. 17) and Australia’s Alexei Popyrin (No. 28) all won in three sets.
Shelton defeated 2020 champion Dominic Thiem of Austria in his final major match, as he battled multiple wrist injuries.
Thiem, who turns 31 next week, has already announced that this season will be his last. He has been given a bye to Flushing Meadows.
German Alexander Zverev (No. 4) dropped a set to his compatriot, Maximilian Marterer, before winning 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2.
Czech Jiri Lehecka (no. 32) took advantage of the retirement of Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the fourth round to reach the second round.
The Argentinians Francisco Cerundolo (no. 29) and Sebastian Baez (no. 21) as well as the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (no. 18), bronze medallist in Paris, also prevailed in four sets.
Alexander Bublik (no. 27) was the first men’s seed of the afternoon to lose (4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6), at the hands of the Chinese Juncheng Shang.
The Dane Holger Rune (no 15) was dominated 2-6, 1-6, 4-6 by the American Brandon Nakashima, in one hour and 55 minutes.
Argentinians Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Francisco Comesana, Frenchman Gaël Monfils, Italian Matteo Berrettini, Spaniards Roberto Bautista Agut and Roberto Carballes Baena and American Mitchell Krueger also won in the first round.
Monfils, a crowd favorite, knocked out Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman in his last match in the Big Apple.
Schwartzman plans to retire after a tournament in his native Argentina in February 2025.