Kerber makes short work of ailing Hercog
NEW YORK: Second-seeded German Angelique Kerber made a definitive start to her US Open campaign on Monday, reaching the second round when Polona Hercog retired without winning a game.
Kerber, who toppled Serena Williams to lift the Australian Open crown in January and fell to the American in the Wimbledon final, was leading 6-0, 1-0 when 120th-ranked Hercog of Slovenia called it quits in the sultry heat of Flushing Meadows' Arthur Ashe stadium court.
Kerber, who could topple Williams from atop the world rankings in the final Grand Slam of the season, next faces either France's Alize Cornet or Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
Debutant Kyle Edmund upset 13th-seeded Richard Gasquet.
The 21-year-old Brit won 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 against the 2013 U.S. Open semifinalist. Edmund, ranked 84th, had 40 winners, 21 on his forehand. He has twice made it to the second round at the French Open.
Gasquet hadn't lost in the first round at a major since 2010 at Roland Garros.
Gasquet, the first seeded player to lose at the U.S. Open, summed up his quick exit this way: "Not sure I could do worse."
His loss was the first career victory over a player ranked in the top 15 for No. 84 Kyle Edmund of Britain.
Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champ, was through to the second round with a straight-set win.
The seventh-seeded Cilic beat 108th- ranked Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 on despite posting more unforced errors than winners (24-23). Cilic is coming off his first Masters title, beating Andy Murray in the final at Cincinnati.
Dutra Silva is now 0-3 against top-10 players. He came in 3-3 in his career at the U.S. Open and 0-5 in the other majors.
Earlier, the woman who stunned Serena Williams at last year's U.S. Open en route to the final, Roberta Vinci of Italy, won the first match in the tournament's refurbished Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Vinci, who is seeded No. 7, overcame some second-set jitters to beat 46th- ranked Anna- Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-2, 6-4 on Monday.
In the 2015 semifinals at Flushing Meadows, Vinci — unseeded and ranked 43rd at the time — upset Williams, ending the American's bid for tennis' first calendar-year Grand Slam in 27 years. That put Vinci into her first major final, where she lost to another Italian, childhood friend Flavia Pennetta.
The temperature hit 90 degrees Monday, but the new retractable roof atop Ashe provided some shade for spectators — and, on one side of the court, players.
Play has started at the U.S. Open under sunny skies with no rain in the forecast for days, which could delay the first official use of the new retractable roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The $150 million roof, which can close in about seven minutes, is to be used, according to tournament officials, only "in the event of inclement weather or the strong possibility of inclement weather."
Neither is expected in the next few days, with forecasts calling for clear skies and highs in the 80s.
The roof is still set to make its debut, of sorts, at Monday night's opening ceremony. The U. S. Tennis Association plans to shut the roof after the day session and open it for effect while Phil Collins performs "In the Air Tonight."