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 firstround 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.