Saturday 21 / December / 2024
New York: The year's final Grand Slam began with an upset as 13th seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet was upended 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 by Britain's world No. 84 Kyle Edmund at the U.S. Open on Monday.
Gasquet, who has reached the last 16 at Flushing Meadows four times in his career, was outplayed throughout and his U.S. Open experience lasted just one hour, 41 minutes.
The 21-year-old Edmund, who helped Britain win the Davis Cup last year, crunched 10 aces and 40 winners in all en route to the biggest victory of his career.
Edmund will play Lukas Lacko of Slovakia or American wildcard Ernesto Escobedo in the second round.
Former champion Marin Cilic, a popular pick to make a deep run, opened his campaign with a solid 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil.
The Croatian seventh seed, fresh off a win over world No. 2 Andy Murray in the Cincinnati final, came from a break down in the first set and was pushed in the second before easing past the world No. 108.
"It's my second home, I feel great here," said Cilic, who won the only grand slam title of his career here two years ago. "My best memories come from here in 2014.
"Winning Cincinnati just shows me I am in good form but it's an extremely tough tournament, over two weeks. There are a lot of contenders for the title so I will take it step by step."
Cilic, who banged down 12 aces, now plays either Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine or Gastao Elias of Portugal in round two.
