2010 U.S. Open Day 2: Favorites Roll Despite Tough Early Tests

Highlights from a long, hot, at times interminable second day of first-round U.S. Open tennis:

• (1) Caroline Wozniacki def. Chelsey Gullickson, 6-1, 6-1.
Really, this isn't bad at all for a first-time qualifier facing a No. 1 seed. Gullickson's got a great backhand that will only grow fiercer with added control. As for Wozniacki? She played with a lethal efficiency that may have been born of wanting to get to bed already (this match didn't even begin until almost midnight), but her hiccup-free performance belied the late hour.

•  (1) Rafael Nadal def. Teymuraz Gabashvili, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
He's not about to drop a set, nooooo, but Nadal knows we do not like him and kept America up late out of spite. And he was dressed horribly, but you probably could have guessed that.

•  (3) Novak Djokovic def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Precious Serbian blossom Djokovic drooped in the sun for a time, but recovered nicely to brush off a mere qualifier.

•  (19) Mardy Fish def. Jan Hajek, 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.
The newly be-svelted Fish drifted into choppy waters there for a bit, but put away Hajek with 24 aces and a definitive final two sets.

•  James Blake def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
To the astonishment of almost everyone watching, Blake had the handiest win of the day. All credit to his trusty headband!

•  (14) Maria Sharapova def. Jarmila Groth, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
In another surprisingly easy match, first-set stumbles aside, Sharapova beat some scrub qualifier who didn't deserve to win because her very name makes it clear she is not as pretty as Maria.

•  (31) David Nalbandian def. Rik De Voest, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4.
Today's was the kind of weather no one wants to be out in for very long; unfortunately, the heat is acting as a weird sort of equalizer in the daytime matches. This one danced dangerously close to the four-hour mark.

•  (4) Jelena Jankovic def. Simona Halep, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
Late in this extended, sloppy match, ESPN's Cliff Drysdale said these two combatants looked like "punch-drunk boxers," and it's hard to argue.

•  (8) Fernando Verdasco def. Fabio Fognini, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
Verdasco got one back from the fellow who knocked him out of Wimbledon in June, but not without a bizarro first-set faceplant.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

With the start of their match pushed back near midnight in Flushing Meadows, one might have expected top seed Caroline Wozniacki and Chelsey Gullickson to drag their feet. Not to worry; Wozniacki dispatched the American qualifier and reigning NCAA champ lickety-split, 6-1, 6-1. Both ladies also scored high marks for evening wear (haha, get it?!), with Gullickson in ruffled blue and white and Wozniacki in shirred gray and yellow.

After a day of waiting and a mere hour of play, Wozniacki advances to meet Taiwan's Kai-Chen Chang in the second round.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

In a match destined to annoy from the outset thanks to a late start time, top-seeded Rafael Nadal let Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili hang around entirely too long, entirely to spite patient U.S. Open viewing audiences eager to move on to Wozniacki-Gullickson. The two first sets went to tiebreaks before Nadal deigned to win the third outright, for a final score of 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. The next scrub to cross his path will be Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

There was some real drama brewing near the bottom of the Nadal draw in tonight's U.S. Open play, where Argentina's David Nalbandian took his sweet time knocking off South African qualifier Rik De Voest, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4. Nalbandian's precise net play finally put the match to rest just short of the four-hour mark. The 31-seed will play France's Florent Serra in the second round.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

Nobody with a lick of sense wants to play five sets of tennis today, not with on-court temperatures at the U.S. Open cracking 100 degrees. No. 8 Fernando Verdasco was bent on vengeance, however, and survived a miserable start to defeat Fabio Fognini, who knocked him out of Wimbledon in the first round earlier this summer, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Next up in the Most Dramatic Names Draw, Verdasco faces Adrian Mannarino of France.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

No. 14 Maria Sharapova overcame a troublesome first-set loss to beat Jarmila Groth, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in first-round U.S. Open play. Sharapova rebounded from her early struggles to play largely error-free tennis in the third set, and advances to take on the Czech Republic's Iveta Benesova.

She also takes home the day's best-dressed award for a fetching dark mint number with matching cardigan.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's The Daily Forehand.

It's been a rough year for James Blake, with frequent early-round losses and a knee injury that kept him out of the French Open and hampered him at Wimbledon. He's experiencing a very late bounce back, however, first advancing to the quarterfinals in the Farmers Classic, and today blowing through his first-round U.S. Open opponent, Belgium's Kristof Vliegen, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Blake and his headband advance to face Peter Polansky of Canada.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's The Daily Forehand.

Fellow Serb Viktor Troicki took third-seeded Novak Djokovic to a full five sets in second-day action at the U.S. Open, winning the second two rather handily before succumbing. 

Temperatures in New York continued to adversely affect match conditions. Wilting rapidly under hellishly hot court conditions, Djokovic fell behind two sets to one (the second two weren't even all that close), before seeming to realize that the mercury wasn't going to drop in time to do him any good, and visibly bucking up to triumph, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's The Daily Forehand.

American Mardy Fish prevailed in bizarre fashion Tuesday, beating Jan Hajek, 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1, in the first round of the 2010 U.S. Open. Afterward, the No. 19 seed admitted he wasn't sure what happened during the second and third sets.

"Sometimes a 6-0 set, it can be a kiss of death," Fish said in his post-match interview.

The newly slimmed down Fish used a deadly serve -- he aced Hajek 24 times -- to pull away late. He also racked up 52 winners, 20 more than Hajek.

Arnaud Clement upset No. 16 Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5, in the first round of the 2010 U.S. Open Tuesday. It was an ugly but epic match that dragged on for nearly three and a half hours. "I think Clement looks better," ESPN's Pam Shriver said at one point. "Both look bad though."

Down 5-6, 30-40 in the fifth, Baghdatis, who in 2006 played an incredible match here against Andre Agassi, at least looked like he was trying to force a tiebreaker. He boomed a big ace to bring it to deuce. Clement, however, then smacked a backhand for a winner before Baghdatis sent a looping forehand wide on match point.

It was a feast or famine kind of day for Baghdatis, who had 56 winners and 48 unforced errors. Clement, one of the shortest players on the tour (thanks for that nugget ESPN), hung around by staying consistent.

How hot was it on the court? Shriver said the thermometer read 110 degrees.

Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic squeaked past Simona Halep, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, in the first round of the 2010 U.S. Open. Soaring temperatures had a major effect on the quality of the match, which lasted almost two and a half hours. Halep actually led 5-4 in third set before falling apart.

After a 20-stroke rally late in the match ended with Halep dumping a drop shot attempt into the net, ESPN's Cliff Drysdale seemed as tired as the players. "It's like two punch-drunk boxers," he said. Jankovic looked tentative throughout the match, piling up 48 unforced errors.

Despite the loss, it wasn't a negative result for Halep, a U.S. Open rookie. She's had a tough year or so physically.