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Djokovic, Serena stamp authorityFormer world No 1 Wozniacki bows to Romanias Begu in first round
Reuters
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dance of delight American Sloane Stephens celebrates after defeating Italys Francesca Schiavone on Tuesday. AFP
dance of delight American Sloane Stephens celebrates after defeating Italys Francesca Schiavone on Tuesday. AFP

Defending champion Novak Djokovic and three-times winner Serena Williams each dropped just two games against bewildered opponents at the US Open on Tuesday, leading a procession of top seeds into the second round of the year's final Grand Slam.

Joining Djokovic in the winner's circle at Flushing Meadows were number five Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, number six Tomas Berdych, and former champion Andy Roddick, the 20th seed.

On the women's side, former world number one Caroline Wozniacki was a first round casualty while second seed Agnieszka Radwanska and number six Angelique Kerber advanced easily.

Djokovic took just an hour and 13 minutes to blitz Italy's Paolo Lorenzi 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 in his first-round match under the lights on a cool evening at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Fourth-seeded Williams followed Djokovic on the court and produced a 6-1, 6-1 rout of 75th-ranked American Coco Vandeweghe, who committed 22 errors and produced only nine winners against the 30-year-old, 14-times Grand Slam champion.

World number two Radwanska of Poland showed no signs of a shoulder injury that forced her out of the New Haven tournament last week as she routed 91st-ranked Nina Bratchikova 6-1, 6-1.

Wozniacki bounced

Hampered by a knee problem, eighth-seeded Wozniacki never broke the serve of world number 96 Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania and lost 2-6, 2-6.

Venus Williams overpowered Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 6-1 and in the process clocked the fastest women's serve of the tournament to date at 124 mph (199 kph).

Like Venus, Roddick is trying to re-capture the form that saw him win the US Open in 2003.
On Tuesday, he cruised past 21-year-old American qualifier Rhyne Williams 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

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(Published 29 August 2012, 22:15 IST)