Andy Murray and Serena Williams both avoided early upsets at the US Open in the early hours of Wednesday morning to progress to the second round of the competition.
Murray looked at his devastating best as he beat stubborn Czech, Lukáš Rosol in straight sets (6-3, 6-2, 6-2).
"He came out going for his shots," Murray told The Guardian after the match. "Once I got through that tricky period right at the start, where he’s hitting the ball really well, I adjusted to the conditions. I settled down and played, I think, a really good match."
The Scot is hoping to add the US Open to his 2016 Wimbledon crown and thrilled the crowd on the newly revamped Arthur Ashe Court.
Serena Williams, meanwhile, is aiming to regain her US Open title from Italian Flavia Pennetta and made the perfect start last night.
She cruised past Russian Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets 6-3 6-3 to join her sister Venus in the second round.
Williams has been struggling with a shoulder injury over the past few weeks, but took just 63 minutes to progress to the second round. Williams was beaten last year by eventual finalist Roberta Vinci, but looks on course to regain her title and defend her status as world number 1 with a strong performance at Flushing Meadows.
Australian Nick Kyrgios also put his latest controversy behind him with a straight sets win over Britain’s Aljaz Bedene (6-4, 6-4, 6-4).
Kyrgios hosted an impromptu Twitter Q&A on where he admitted to a follower that tennis players were allowed to smoke cannabis outside of competition. This was later confirmed by WADA, with a spokesperson claiming that cannabis "is a prohibited substance for in-competition testing, it has never been prohibited out-of-competition".
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