Day 2 of the 2011 U.S. Open is in the books, and similar to what unfolded during Monday’s action, Tuesday saw the top-seeded men and women advance fairly easily. Before he could work up much of a swet, No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic was on to Round 2 after Conor Niland retired due to an illness down 0-6, 1-5 after 44 minutes. The drubbing Niland was taking from Djokovic couldn’t have made him feel any better.
Rafael Nadal had a tougher time in his opening-round match but ultimately won in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 over Andrey Golubev.
American James Blake advanced Tuesday as well with a four-set win over Jesse Huta Galung. The journeymen fan-favorite will face the No. 5 seed David Ferrer in Round 2.
On the women’s side, No. 1 seeded Caroline Wozniacki breezed by 31-year old Nuria Llagostera, 6-3, 6-1. The 2009 runner-up will play Arantxa Rus in the second round, a tall, 20-year old from the Netherlands making her first U.S. Open appearance.
The No. 6 seed on the women’s side, Li Na of China, was the highest seeded player to fall on Tuesday. The 2011 French Open champ was ousted by 19-year Simona Halep. The rapidly-rising Romanian got off to a quick start against the veteran Li, winning the first set easily, 6-2. Li made her work harder for the second set, but Halep finished her off 7-5 to advance to the second round.
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