Nadal Up And Running In Quick Time

Thiem and Tsitsipas’ campaigns cut short; Nishikori and Pliskova make the third round

Rafael Nadal launched his tilt at a fourth U.S. Open title on Tuesday with a swift defeat of John Millman as other leading seeds in his half of the draw tumbled out in the first round.

Four players in the world’s top 10 — Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Karen Khachanov and Roberto Bautista Agut — lost to ease Nadal’s potential path to the final.

The Spanish second seed — champion in 2010, 2013 and 2017 — needed barely two hours to see Millman off 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium with the World No. 60 from Australia unable to reproduce the magic that saw him stun Roger Federer here a year ago.

“The beginning, the first match, is always a little bit new even if I’ve played here plenty of times,” said Nadal. “I think I played well and in general am very happy with the way I started.

Two-time French Open runner-up Thiem was upset by Italian giant-killer Thomas Fabbiano 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, the Austrian fourth seed slumping to another first-round exit, having lost at the same stage at Wimbledon.

Finding fault

Greek eighth seed Tsitsipas struggled with cramps and accused umpires of having “preferences” after he fell to a 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 7-5 defeat by Next Gen rival Andrey Rublev in a gruelling four-hour slog.