Much like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal won a match that wasn’t nearly as clean as it could be, but it’s certainly an advantage in the US Open to play someone ranked a bit lower.  Golubev is a big hitter, evidenced by nearly 60 unforced errors to Nadal’s paltry 16 errors.  Golubev broke Nadal’s serve six times and was ahead in sets, but Nadal was solid enough to get the breaks back and win 6-3, 7-6, 7-5.  Nadal seems to play more than his fair share of night matches.

Djokovic had an easy win when Conor Niland of Ireland, who suffered from food poisoning, was having trouble keeping food down.  He had hoped to bluff his way to a win, but long rallies had him wanting to projectile vomit.  Niland retired in the second set after winning only one game.  Djokovic, for his part, didn’t mind an easy match given his recent fitness struggles at Cincy.

A summary of how the seeds did

  • Ferrer (seeded 5) won in 4 sets over Igor Andreev after dropping the opening set.  Ferrer was injured after Bastad, but did return to play Cincy.
  • Tsonga (seeded 11) had a straight set win over Yen-Hsun Lu
  • Wawrinka (seeded 14) beat Maximo Gonzalez in 4 sets
  • Ernests Gulbis, who had not won an opening round in a Slam in 2 years, beat 16th seed, Mikhail Youzhny, a semifinalist at the US Open last year, in straight sets.
  • Melzer (seeded 17) beat Frenchman, Prodon, in straight sets
  • Verdasco (seeded 19) beat veteran Jarkko Nieminen in 4 sets, dropping the initial set
  • Mayer (seeded 26th) beat Mannarino in straight sets
  • Ivan Dodig (seeded 32) lost in 5 sets to veteran, Nikolay Davydenko

Other notable matches

  • Nicolas Mahut beat Farah of Colombia in 5 sets.  He faces Rafael Nadal in the 2nd round.
  • Donald Young beat Lukas Lacko in straight sets
  • David Nalbandian beat Bobby Reynolds in 4 sets
  • James Blake won his match over Jesse Huta Galung in 4 sets

Wednesday, 4th seed Andy Murray, 6th seed, Robin Soderling, 21st seed Andy Roddick, and 28th seed, John Isner are in action.