NEW YORK, August 29, 2018 (News Wires) - Roger Federer made light of energy-sapping conditions to brush past Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2 6-2 6-4 in his opening match at the US Open on Tuesday. Where other players had slogged through long rallies as the temperature hit 90 Fahrenheit (32C),Federer kept his time on court to a minimum with a masterclass of serve-and-volley tennis, pulling the industrious world number 177 from one side of the court to the other at will. Federer, the second seed, broke the Japanese lefthander in the opening game of the one-sided encounter and never looked back, rattling through his service games with a minimum of fuss to wrap up the first set in 28 minutes. "I'm happy to be back in New York, healthy - the last couple of years have been difficult so it's nice to be back, feeling really good," Federer said courtside after the win. "I'm happy I played well tonight and Nishioka was a tough opponent. He's got fast legs and a bright future ahead of him. I was very happy with how I played." The Swiss took 35 minutes to close out the second set and, with Nishioka firmly on the ropes, started the third by racing to a 4-0 lead before his Japanese opponent held serve. Nishioka rallied briefly at the end, denying Federer the chance to serve out the set and battling back to 5-4 with his first break of serve. But Federer put his beleaguered opponent out of his misery in his next service game, wrapping up the victory in one hour and 52 minutes. Federer, who has never lost an opening round match at Flushing Meadows, said he would try to continue that streak until he finally hangs up his racket. "I'm happy I never stumbled at the first hurdle. It's almost time to retire, but not yet," the 37-year-old said with a smile, adding that the conditions had been tough. "I think particularly tough for us Europeans, we don't get this type of humidity where we live and grow up. It's something we have to get used to," added Federer, who is looking for a sixth US Open crown and first since 2008. Next up for the Swiss is a second-round clash with unseeded Frenchman Benoit Paire. Marin Cilic clinched a second-round berth at the US Open after opponent Marius Copil of Romania retired hurt in the third set trailing the seventh-ranked Croat 7-5 6-1 1-1 on Tuesday. Cilic, who was champion in 2014, was cruising against Copil, who quit with a left-arm strain, according to a USTA official. The match took place in heat and humidity, as temperatures climbed above 30 degrees Celsius, battering players across Flushing Meadows. Seventh seed Cilic, who said it was "one of the most brutal days that we had so far this year," told reporters the heat, plus the pressure of the shot clock introduced at the tournament this year, had proved challenging. "I was just missing some easy balls, making some unforced errors that are not that usual for me," Cilic said, referring to his performance early in the match. "Conditions definitely were extremely tough and very humid, very hot." Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic defied debilitating heat and humidity to beat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 and reach the second round. Djokovic was clearly strugging in the soaring temperatures that contributed to at least three retirements on Tuesday, but he regrouped for the win in his first match on Arthur Ashe Stadium court since he fell to Stanislas Wawrinka in the 2016 final. The Serb star next faces American Tennys Sandgren, a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 winner over Serbian Viktor Tricki. Fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev punched his ticket to the US Open second round on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Canadian lucky loser Peter Polansky. Zverev, tipped as one of the highly touted "NextGen" stars poised to break through for a first Grand Slam, next faces either French lucky loser Nicolas Mahut or French wild card Corentin Moutet. Nick Kyrgios sweated out a 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-2 win over Radu Albot to reach the second round of the US Open on Tuesday then the fiery Australian put the heat on officials to come up with a extreme conditions rule instead of making one up on the fly. With temperatures soaring above 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) amid crushing humidity, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said a 10-minute heat break granted to women players before a third set would be extended to the men. Despite playing his opener in the evening after the worst of the ferocious heat had subsided, Kyrgios said conditions remained brutal inside the Louis Armstrong Stadium and it was time players raised the issue with officials. "The heat can become dangerous at times and I don't think we had a heat rule and we made one up today, right," the 30th seed told reporters. "That's just ridiculous. "I think we should have a heat rule, it's not healthy to be out there getting dizzy and stuff and the poor ball kids out there. There should definitely be a heat rule looked at and put into place." At least two players retired from first round matches on Tuesday due to the heat and if the higher temperatures forecast for Wednesday hit New York, officials will be under increasing pressure to protect the health of both players and fans. Earlier on Tuesday, a fan collapsed in the stands at the sun-exposed court 17 during Czech Petra Kvitova's win over Yanina Wickmayer, causing the chair umpire to halt play while emergency medical personnel attended. Kyrgios appeared uncomfortable and lethargic at the start of his match, eventually breaking the 95th-ranked Albot to move 6-5 ahead before holding serve to secure the opening set. However, the energetic Moldovan fought back to take the second, leaving Kyrgios mumbling to himself during the change. The big-serving Australian recovered his poise as his booming serve began to find hit the target, eventually seeing off Albot with the help of 25 aces. "I knew he (Albot) was going to make a lot of balls, I was just happy to get through," Kyrgios added. "Didn't feel too good in the second set honestly, but felt pretty good in the third and fourth, and started finding my range. "They were very tough conditions I was thankful I wasn't playing during the day because obviously the heat was affecting a lot of matches. "It's never easy you can't really prepare for this heat." Meanwhile, world No 2 Caroline Wozniacki reached the second round of the US Open, dispatching former champion Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-2 on a sweltering Arthur Ashe Stadium. The second-seeded Dane said she used her imagination to beat the heat in a tough first-round match-up against the Aussie veteran who won the title in Flushing Meadows in 2011 but was undone by eight double faults on Tuesday. "It's definitely difficult, it's very hot out here today," said Wozniacki, the highest seed remaining in the women's field after the shock first-round exit of Simona Halep on Monday. "I just tried to cool down between games, used ice. I'm just thinking I'm on the beach, I have a margarita in hand, life is good." Wozniacki, eager to add another Grand Slam title to the Australian Open crown she captured in January, next faces Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck. "She's a tricky opponent, great backhand," Wozniacki said. "I'm just glad to have won this one. When I saw I was playing Sam I knew it wasn't going to be easy." Maria Sharapova overcame a shaky start and survived a spirited fightback from Patty Schnyder to defeat the Swiss veteran 6-2 7-6(6) in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday. Five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who won at Flushing Meadows in 2006, struggled with her serve at times in the opening set but Schnyder failed to take full advantage. The Swiss retired from tennis after being beaten in the first round of the French Open in 2011 but returned in 2015 and last week became the oldest woman qualifier to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam at the age of 39 years and eight months. She was handed an early break by Sharapova after the Russian made three double faults in her opening service game, but double faulted on break point on her own serve to hand the initiative straight back. With the first four service games all broken, Sharapova held for the first time to take a 3-2 lead and, having got her nose in front, found both her rhythm and serve and began dictating play from the baseline. The 22nd seed wrapped up the first set in 40 minutes and was leading 5-1 in the second before Schnyder embarked on a remarkable rally. Schnyder started to take the pace off the ball to gain a greater degree of control and the approach paid dividends as Sharapova's error count mounted. The Russian, who hit 22 winners but made 46 unforced errors, needed four match points to end Schnyder's resistance as the match went to a tiebreak, eventually sealing victory with a powerful forehand winner. Former champion Angelique Kerber eased into the US Open second round with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 win over Margarita Gasparyan of Russia. Fourth seed Kerber, the reigning Wimbledon champion and the 2016 winner in New York, will face Sweden's Johanna Larsson for a place in the last 32. Jelena Ostapenko sweated out a 6-4 4-6 7-5 win over German Andrea Petkovic to reach the second round of the as the heat was turned up at Flushing Meadows. With the thermometre pushing towards 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) the pair battled for two hours and 18 minutes under a ferocious sun before the 10th seeded Latvian ended the marathon on her fourth match point, sending the few remaining spectators at the Louis Armstrong Stadium court scrambling to find shade. "Today (it) was a very tough match. She (Petkovic) was fighting for every point until the end," said Ostapenko, who will meet American Taylor Townsend in the second round. "It is very humid, very warm and the match was more than two hours." Petkovic, having failed to qualify in Cincinnati and New Haven ahead of the US Open, arrived at Flushing Meadows well rested and the 30-year-old needed all her reserves on a sweltering day that is sure to test the fitness of every player across the sprawling Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre. Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, may have also benefited from an uninspiring build-up to the season's final grand slam, crashing out in the first round at Montreal and Cincinnati to leave her fresh going into her opener.
