On the women's side, Coco Gauff was made to work for her place in the second round.
Djokovic, prevented from playing in last year's U.S. Open due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19, began his latest campaign to match Margaret Court's all-time record haul of 24 Grand Slams with a 6-0 6-2 6-3 win over Alexandre Muller.
read more"This court has seen so much history and so many battles," Djokovic told the New York crowd.
SPARSE CROWDWhile Djokovic played in front of a packed house, Swiatek performed to a sparse sleepy morning audience.
In contrast to Gauff's laboured win, Danielle Collins, the 2022 Australian Open finalist, turned on the jets to dispose of Czech Linda Fruhvirtova 6-2 6-0 in a lightning quick 52 minutes.
Persons:
Serbia's Novak Djokovic, France’s Alexandre Muller, Mike Segar, Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Swiatek, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Coco Gauff, Margaret Court's, Alexandre Muller, Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic, Frenchman, Arthur Ashe, Daniil Medvedev, Barack Obama, Michelle, Serena Williams, Swede Rebecca Peterson, mercifully, Daria Saville, I'm, Wozniacki, Tatiana Prozorova, Andy Roddick, Fritz, Tiafoe, Steve Johnson, Christopher Eubanks, South Korea's Kwon, Laura Siegemund, Gauff's, Danielle Collins, Czech Linda Fruhvirtova, Steve Keating, Pritha Sarkar, Shri Navaratnam, Peter Rutherford
Organizations:
Tennis, France’s Alexandre Muller REUTERS, U.S, Djokovic, COVID, Cincinnati, New, U.S ., Djokovic's, Russian, Wimbledon, South, Thomson
Locations:
Flushing Meadows , New York, United States, U.S, New York, Flushing, American, Cincinnati, Czech