Nadal Up And Running In Quick Time

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

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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.