Former French Open champion Gaston Gaudio became the United States Open’s first major casualty on Monday, falling to American Brian Baker in three sets on the first day of the season’s final grand slam.
The 20-year-old Baker, a wild-card entry who has played in only two events on the main ATP tour this season, beat the ninth-seeded Gaudio, the 2004 winner at Roland Garros, 7-6 (9), 6-2, 6-4.
Gaudio, ranked ninth by the ATP, has won five titles this season but his quarterfinal appearance at the ATP Master Series event in Montreal earlier this month was his best performance to date on hard courts.
”I was expecting to make a better tournament here, but I play a guy that today was better than me,” Gaudio said. ”It would be better if I can reach a few rounds … [He] was serving good and playing good from the base line.”
Hampered by injuries this season, Baker needed assistance from medical personnel for what he called ”anxiety cramps” in his thigh.
”Obviously he’s a lot better on clay, so I tried to press his forehand and make points on my terms instead of his,” Baker said.
On the women’s side, eighth-seeded Serena Williams beat back a second-set challenge from 16-year-old Taiwanese qualifier Yung-Jan Chan 6-1, 6-3. It was Chan’s first appearance in a grand slam and a regular WTA Tour event.
After winning the first set in 29 minutes, Williams trailed 3-1 in the second set before rallying to win in an hour and 18 minutes.
”I didn’t get tired at all I think I just started flat,” Williams said. ”Maybe I was thinking about something else. I just was really flat. I knew it. I was like, ‘Serena, get more pep in your step.”’
Williams advanced to face Colombia’s Catalina Castano, who beat Alina Jidkova of Russia 6-4, 6-3.
Other early top seeds also advanced on a typically warm, humid late summer day in New York. Fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters beat Germany’s Marina Muller 6-1, 6-2; number nine Nadia Petrova of Russia advanced past Czech Eva Binerova 6-4, 6-4; and number 18 Serbian Ana Ivanovic defeated American Lindsay Lee-Waters 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Number 20 Daniel Hantuchova breezed past Frenchwoman Camille Pin 6-3, 6-1; 25th-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy defeated Jelena Kostanic of Croatia 6-2, 7-5; number 26 Nicole Vaidisova beat Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-1; and number 30 Ai Sugiyama overcame five double faults and rallied to beat Alyona Bondarenko 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Among the women’s seeds, the only upset was number 28 Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who was eliminated by Germany’s Julia Schruff 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
In other early men’s play, number 18 Ivan Ljubicic defeated Germany’s Tobias Summerer 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3; Nicolas Massu beat American Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-3; and Xavier Malisse beat Jan Hernych 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.
”It was definitely humid,” Vaidisova said. ”Last week I was in Florida where it’s 10 times more humid, so I’m fine with it.”
The final grand slam of the year began with temperatures at about 28 degrees Celsius and humidity of about 60%, typical for the end of summer in New York.
Monday’s opening day featured top women’s seed Maria Sharapova facing Eleni Daniilidou in a night match, number two men’s seed Rafael Nadal against Bobby Reynolds and defending women’s champion Svetlana Kuznetsova against Ekaterina Bychkova. — Sapa-AP