WASHINGTON POST coverage (excerpt of online article August 29, 2011):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/othersports/tennis/going-according-to-plan-berdych-gets-first-round-win-at-us-open/2011/08/29/gIQACwjmnJ_story.html
Joining Serena Williams in first-round action Tuesday will be defending champion and second-seeded Rafael Nadal against Andrey Golubev and both the top seeds — Novak Djokovic vs. Conor Niland and Caroline Wozniacki vs. Nuria Llagostera Vives.
The only major upset on opening day was Alexandra Dulgheru’s 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over No. 5 Petra Kvitova. Kvitova became the first reigning Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round at the U.S. Open.
She has only won two matches since hoisting the trophy at the All England Club. Asked why she was struggling, she said, “That’s a good question, actually.”
The player she beat at Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova, had to go three sets Monday for her win. She needed 2 hours, 34 minutes to beat Heather Watson, the remarkably nimble, 102nd-ranked 19-year-old from Britain.
The bad weather stole some practice time over the weekend from Sharapova, a three-time major champion, and she conceded she was far from her best.
“It’s just a matter of belief within myself, that no matter how well or bad or good I’m playing, or my opponent is playing, I know I can tough it out,” she said. “No matter what the situation is, I have the belief.”
In the last match of the first day, 16-time major winner Roger Federer beat 54th-ranked Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to collect his 224th victory in Grand Slam play, tying Andre Agassi for second-most in the Open era. Jimmy Connors holds the record at 233.
“It’s just another way of saying, ‘Roger, you’ve been doing many things right throughout your career,” Federer said. “It gives me good satisfaction and points me in the right direction, I think.”
The only men’s seed to lose on Day 1 was No. 15 Viktor Troicki of Serbia, a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 loser against Alejandro Falla of Colombia.
Other winners included No. 2 Vera Zvonareva, a finalist last year at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open; 16-year-old Madison Keys of Boca Raton, Fla. — the youngest and, at 455th, lowest-ranked woman in the draw — who beat 37-year-old Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-4; and No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who beat her younger sister Urszula 6-2, 6-3.
But surprise 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., lost 6-0, 7-6 (7) to Romina Oprandi of Italy, falling to 9-29 in 2011.
Oudin said she’ll spend most of the rest of this season playing in lesser events, hoping to get some matches, and wins, under her belt to get some seasoning for a long career in front of her.
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