Nadal wins US Open match in 3

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Rafael Nadal began his bid to complete a career Grand Slam at this year’s U.S. Open by beating 93rd-ranked Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Tuesday night.

There were zero breaks of serve up until 3-all in the third set of the first-round match. But the No. 1-seeded Nadal broke Gabashvili there and again in the final game.

Nadal saved the only break point he faced.

The match extended Nadal’s Grand Slam winning streak to 15 matches, after his titles at the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July. He owns eight major championships, but has yet to make it past the semifinals at Flushing Meadows, losing at that stage each of the past two years.

Earlier, Maria Sharapova sat in her changeover chair, briefly closed her eyes, and took some deep breaths.

“I knew,” she would say later, “that it wasn’t over.”

Whatever problems she encountered Tuesday, whatever the level of her game, all that mattered to Sharapova was the outcome. Overcoming a deficit and a big-hitting opponent to avoid a significant upset, the 2006 U.S. Open champion put together a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 60th-ranked Jarmila Groth of Australia.

“At the end of the day, even though I know I wasn’t playing my best tennis, I know I came out with a win. And sometimes it’s more important than anything, because you’re giving yourself a chance to go out on the practice court tomorrow,” the 14th-seeded Sharapova said. “You’re giving yourself a chance to play another match and to get better, you know, maybe work on the things that today weren’t working that well for you.”

Groth hit 14 double-faults, including on the final point of the second set. She was by far the more aggressive of the two, taking risks that sometimes paid off and sometimes did not. She hit 24 winners to 19 for Sharapova, and made 48 unforced errors to 17 for Sharapova.

“She came out firing; didn’t give me many opportunities,” Sharapova said. “You just want to hang in there, get through it.”

More than a dozen women’s matches went three sets, and a half-dozen men’s matches lasted the full five sets, including 2007 runner-up Novak Djokovic’s 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over his friend and Serbian Davis Cup teammate Viktor Troicki.

They played for more than 31/2 hours, and the on-court temperature approached 110 degrees. Djokovic was down a break in the fourth set while already down, before righting himself.

“You kind of start panicking a little bit when you don’t feel great physically,” the third-seeded Djokovic said, “and your opponent takes advantage.”

Mardy Fish, an American seeded 19th, also won in five sets, but fan favorite James Blake needed only three to reach the second round.

Sharapova never has lost earlier than the second round in seven U.S. Opens. But she also hasn’t made it past the third round since taking the championship. She lost at that stage in 2007 and 2009, and missed the tournament in 2008 shortly before having right shoulder surgery.

Sharapova made adjustments to her service motion after that operation, then missed nearly two months this season with a right elbow injury. But she has seemed lately to be on her way back to being a contender at the biggest tournaments, reaching the finals at two hard-court tournaments this summer.

She only double-faulted twice Tuesday, and it was Groth who donated points with shaky serving.