Atherton’s Bellis serves notice again at U.S. Open
NEW YORK — Atherton’s CiCi Bellis is 2-for-2 in the first round of the U.S. Open.
The darling of the 2014 tournament after she stunned Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova as a 15-yearold, Bellis is back in the main draw this year and beat 65thranked Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-3 as the tournament got under way in Flushing Meadows on Monday.
Bellis, now 17, is ranked 158th and advanced through qualifying to make the field. She next faces another American, Shelby Rogers, who upset 27th-seeded Sara Errani.
Novak Djokovic was bothered by his right arm during a first-round victory at the U.S. Open, getting treatment from a trainer, hitting slow serves and grimacing after some shots.
Still, the defending champion got through the match, beating Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
This was the No. 1-ranked player’s first Grand Slam match since losing to Sam Querrey in the third round of Wimbledon.
Asked about his health afterward, Djokovic deflected the question, saying, “I don’t think it’s necessary to talk about this now. I’m through. I’m taking it day by day.”
Three other young players tried to replicate Bellis’ success, but each fell short.
In a matchup of American tennis present and future, 31-year-old John Isner rallied from down two sets to edge 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (3) in 3 hours, 27 minutes.
Jack Sock withstood Taylor Fritz’s repeated comebacks to win the second five-set match between American men. Sock, seeded 26th, Sock took the first two sets, dropped the next two, then went up two breaks in the fifth only for the 18-year-old Fritz to erase both of those. Sock broke Fritz’s serve again to clinch a 7-6 (3), 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, 6-4 win in 3 hours, 21 minutes.
On the women’s side, twotime U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki rallied from a set down to beat American qualifier Taylor Townsend 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first match at the new 8,000-seat Grandstand. Townsend, 20, is ranked 146th and was playing her second U.S. Open.
Monica Puig’s hopes for an Olympics afterglow were dashed when the Rio gold medalist was upset by 61stranked Zheng Saisai 6-4, 6-2.
Puig, 22, is 1-3 at Flushing Meadows.
Rafael Nadal, unable to play in Rio because of a wrist injury, returned to Grand Slam play for the first time in more than three months and easily beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
Nadal hadn’t played at a major since winning his second-round match at the French Open on May 26. He then withdrew from Roland Garros before the third round and sat out Wimbledon because of the problematic wrist.
Also winning on the tournament’s first day was Australian Open champ Angelique Kerber, who advanced when Slovenia’s Polona Hercog retired trailing 6-0, 1-0. No. 13 Richard Gasquet became the first seeded player to lose this year when he was beaten 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 by No. 84 Kyle Edmund of Britain.