Nadal wins through after a slow start

Rafael Nadal recovered from a shaky first set to beat Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (8/6) 6-2 6-2 in his opening match at the US Open.

The world number one made his Flushing Meadows debut for the year under the roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium and initially looked uncomfortable.

The two-time champion was struggling with his footwork while Lajovic, a 27-year-old Serbian ranked 85th, swung freely.

Lajovic broke Nadal’s serve in the third game and maintained his advantage until he served for the first set at 5-4.

Nadal responded with a break to love but let a 3-0 lead in the tie-break slip away before double-faulting on his first set point.

The relief was evident when he took the second one and from there Nadal relaxed while Lajovic could not maintain the same level.

It has been a frustrating couple of months for Nadal, who was beaten by Gilles Muller in the fourth round of Wimbledon before suffering losses to Denis Shapovalov and Nick Kyrgios on the North American hard courts.

He will need to raise his game if he is to challenge for a third US Open title but in the end proved comfortably too good for Lajovic, wrapping up victory in two hours and 16 minutes.

Nadal’s second-round opponent will be either American wild card Tommy Paul or Taro Daniel of Japan, with their match falling victim to the wet weather in New York overnight.