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Former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev wasted little time in reaching the second round at the hard-court major on Tuesday, dispatching Hungarian Attila Balazs 6-1, 6-1, 6-0.

The third seed arrived in New York holding a modest 3-2 record at ATP Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati, but quickly found his range on Arthur Ashe Stadium to earn his 50th tour-level win of the season after one hour and 16 minutes.

"It is always good to start well," Medvedev said. "I am happy with my performance. I am looking forward to the next matches and to play for as long as possible in New York. I hope I can play better and better each match as each one is going to be more difficult."

Medvedev was locked in from deep behind the baseline to limit opportunities for his Hungarian opponent. The World No. 3 committed just 13 unforced errors and did not face a break point to set a second-round meeting against Max Purcell or Christopher O’Connell.

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‘Triple Z’ was well on his way to triple heartbreak.

Zhang Zhizhen led home favourite J.J. Wolf two sets to love and 3-0 in the third set on Monday at the US Open and later in the set served for the match. After failing to close out the match, the Chinese star found himself in a deciding set and in danger of losing at the season’s final major.

It was eerily similar to two other matches he has played in the past 12 months. In the first round of the 2022 US Open, Zhang let slip seven match points against Tim van Rijthoven. In the opening round of this year’s Australian Open, he was unable to convert a match point against Ben Shelton, who eventually reached the quarter-finals.

“Those tough matches, when you lose, there are actually so many things you can learn and so many things you can improve, which just makes you stronger,” Zhang told ATPTour.com. “That's first, because from my mental [side], some people say I have a weak mental side. But I think I'm a tough guy, strong guy, because all the time I lost those tough matches, and it still couldn't break me.

“So it is a good thing and then you go the next step and just go looking for the next match and then you improve. Especially when you lose those [matches], you know how to deal with it.”

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Novak Djokovic made short work of his first-round clash against Alexandre Muller on Monday at the US Open, where the second seed raced to a 95-minute victory in his first match at the hard-court major since 2021. On the surface it appeared a routine opening triumph for the 23-time Grand Slam champion, but Djokovic later acknowledged there was something different about his 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 win on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I was excited to go out on the court,” said the 36-year-old in his post-match press conference. “I didn't care if I started after midnight because I was looking forward to this moment for few years, to be out on the biggest stadium in our sport, the loudest stadium in our sport, playing a night session.

“It was a great joy to be stepping out on the court. I think the performance explains how I felt tonight, particularly in the first two sets. It was kind of lights-out tennis really, almost flawless, a perfect first set.”

Djokovic fired 32 winners and converted eight of 13 break points he earned in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the World No. 84 Muller. It was a continuation of the fine form the Serbian showed in Cincinnati, where he lifted his record-extending 39th ATP Masters 1000 crown eight days ago at the Western & Southern Open.

Novak Djokovic guaranteed his return to World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings Monday night with a commanding opening-round win over Frenchman Alexandre Muller at the US Open.

Playing his first match at Flushing Meadows since Daniil Medvedev denied him a calendar-year Grand Slam in the 2021 final, Djokovic punished the World No. 84 with nine early forehand winners as he took the first eight games of the contest and soon after the match 6-0, 6-2, 6-3. 

“The first set I started tremendously well off the box,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview. “We started quite late. Obviously, there was a ceremony between matches and I knew that we might have a late start, but nevertheless I was excited to come out on the court. It’s been a couple of years, and to come out here in front of you guys is always an honour and a pleasure here on Arthur Ashe.”

What a way to kick things off in NYC ?@DjokerNole knocks out Muller 6-0 6-2 6-3.@usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/dsiL0X3yRd

Watched by former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, Djokovic dominated from start to finish, clipping 32 winners to Muller's 11 and excelling at net, winning 20 of 23 approaches.  He also dropped just five points on first serve.  

Five hours and 15 minutes. A tournament-record 2:50 a.m. ending. Last year’s US Open quarter-final clash between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner had it all.

The battle was even one point from ending with a different result, which would have changed the course of tennis history. Alcaraz triumphed that evening — morning, really — 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3 to advance. The Spanish sensation eventually won the title and by doing so became the youngest World No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history.

Sinner was potentially one shot from flipping that script. Serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set, he missed a crosscourt backhand wide off a backhand return from Alcaraz.

“My match point I still have it now a little bit in the mind, that I missed the backhand cross,” Sinner said. “But if you don't cancel these situations, you will always think about this, so now it's enough. I don't want to talk anymore about this match.

“It was a good and entertaining match. Not only [that] we really enjoyed to play, but I think all the fans watched it, so it was good. But in the other way, hopefully I can face him some more times throughout my whole career and then we'll see.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered a catastrophe 12 months ago when he took to Louis Armstrong stadium for his opening match of the US Open.

Then World No. 94 Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan swung for the fences and took the racquet out of the Greek’s hand, winning the first 11 games of the match and ultimately prevailing in four sets after clubbing 41 winners.

The seventh seed could be forgiven for feeling a little trepidation as he walked back to Armstrong Monday night to face dangerous Canadian Milos Raonic, who owned a 2-0 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and who dropped 49 aces in two matches at Wimbledon this year.

Coached solely on the night by Mark Philippoussis, Tsitsipas was also looking for a confidence booster, having won just one match in Toronto and Cincinnati on the heels of capturing his first title of the year in Los Cabos at the beginning of this month.

The former Nitto ATP Finals champion dropped just five games in the opening two sets and responded with back-to-back breaks in the third after Raonic opened a 4-2 lead to close out a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win. The 25-year-old two-time major finalist limited Raonic to just eight aces and played a tidy match himself, hitting 25 winners to 20 unforced errors, while his opponent conceded 48 unforced errors and five service breaks.

Top 10 stars Casper Ruud and Holger Rune were both involved in four-set matches Monday at the US Open but only Ruud survived his first-round test at the hard-court major in New York.

The 2022 finalist Ruud held off home qualifier Emilio Nava 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) on Court 17 at Flushing Meadows for his 200th tour-level victory. The fifth seed overcame an uber-aggressive performance from the 21-year-old Nava, who struck a remarkable 72 winners to Ruud’s 27 but was unable to find the consistency required to pull off an upset.

Aware of his opponent’s desire to dictate, Ruud stayed cool and offered up just 21 unforced errors to Nava’s 49 across the four sets. That approach was particularly key in the tie-breaks he won in the first and fourth sets, as Ruud’s greater experience told under pressure.

Ruud is now 10-5 at the US Open, where he fell to Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s championship match. His next opponent as he seeks another deep run at Flushing Meadows will be Zhang Zhizhen, after the Chinese star defied a J.J. Wolf comeback for a 7-5, 7-5, 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-3 first-round win.

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Frances Tiafoe made a fast start at the US Open Monday, where he moved past American wild card Learner Tien 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 to reach the second round.

The 10th seed Tiafoe enjoyed a standout run to the semi-finals on home soil in New York last year, defeating then-Top 10 stars Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev before falling to champion Carlos Alcaraz. Competing on Arthur Ashe Stadium again, Tiafoe quickly found his range to entertain the American fans.

“I really love this court, I really enjoy playing here. It hasn’t been the best summer for me, but I love playing on this court," said Tiafoe, who went 1-2 at ATP Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati in August. "I just want to come and do really well. The last time I played here was one of the toughest losses of my life. To come back out here and play as well as I did and take care of business is nice.

“I am leaving everything I’ve got. If I die out here, I die out here. I have to put it all on the line and hopefully it is good enough.”

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One year ago, Dominik Koepfer was at one of his lowest lows. The German lefty, beset by a mystery left arm injury, lost in the first round of qualifying at the US Open to Italian Raul Brancaccio, who was ranked outside the world’s Top 200.

“I already had accepted that my ranking was pretty sh***y. I'd already lost enough points by then. But it's not fun,” Koepfer told ATPTour.com. “Everyone plays tennis to play at this site, to play these events and play in the main draws of Slams and that's the most fun. It's not fun to play in Mexico on Court 3 at a Challenger. It's just different.

“It was definitely hard, it wasn't easy. But you have to accept it and just treat every match the same.”

One year on, the former Tulane University star is ready to play World No. 1 and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the first round of the main draw at Flushing Meadows. Getting back to such a big moment has been full of adversity and, as the 29-year-old made clear, plenty of pain.

The trouble began in Vienna in October 2021. Just months earlier, Koepfer had reached a career-high No. 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. When the pain started, the lefty thought he would finish the year at the Rolex Paris Masters and take time off to recover. Even with pain in his left humerus (upper arm), Koepfer defeated Andy Murray and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the season’s final ATP Masters 1000 event and pushed Hubert Hurkacz to three sets.

Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem earned his first match win at a major since 2021 on Monday, when he produced a clean-hitting performance to overcome 25th seed Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in New York.

The Austrian, who reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in 2021, played consistently throughout the one-hour, 54-minute clash. The 29-year-old struck 26 winners and committed 21 unforced errors, improving to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Bublik.

"It was a very good match, basically from the first moment," Thiem said. "It's a pretty special victory, because it's the first since two-and-a-half years at Grand Slams... It's great. Especially here at the US Open with all the past and all the memories I have here."

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Thiem has tasted success in New York before, having defeated Alexander Zverev in the 2020 final to win his maiden major title. With his victory against Bublik, Thiem snapped a six-match losing streak at Slams. He lost his first-round match in New York in 2022. His best result this season was a run to the final in Kitzbühel in August.

Next Gen ATP Finals alumni Sebastian Baez and Jiri Lehecka enjoyed strong runs at the Winston-Salem Open to earn themselves a pre-US Open boost in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as of 28 August 2023.

No. 29 Jiri Lehecka, +6 (Career High)
The 21-year-old Lehecka fell just short of his maiden ATP Tour crown in Winston-Salem but has nonetheless risen to a career-high No. 29. The Czech, who also reached the final at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals, defeated the in-form Max Purcell en route to the championship match at the ATP 250 before falling to Baez.

No. 23 Borna Coric, +6
The top seed in Winston-Salem, Coric’s run to his third tour-level semi-final of the season has boosted his chances of a swift return to the Top 20 after he dropped out last week. Baez edged the Croatian in a deciding tie-break to claim a three-hour, 19-minute last-four epic in North Carolina, but Coric will be happy to have gathered some momentum ahead of his US Open campaign.

No. 31 Sebastian Korda, +2
There was a bittersweet end for Korda in Winston-Salem, where the American saved match point to down Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals but was then forced to withdraw from the event due to an ankle injury sustained during his win against the Frenchman. Korda earlier dispatched Benjamin Bonzi and Marton Fucsovics in straight sets at the ATP 250, and next faces a rematch with the latter in the US Open first round.

Kei Nishikori withdrew from the US Open on Sunday due to injury, the tournament announced.

The former World No. 4 withdrew from other tournaments earlier this North American hard-court swing due to a left knee injury. 

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Nishikori in June returned to action for the first time since October 2021. The Japanese star immediately found his form, winning an ATP Challenger Tour title at Palmas del Mar. After competing in two more Challenger events, he reached the Atlanta quarter-finals. But Nishikori has not competed since and now will have to wait to make his return to Grand Slam action. 

The 33-year-old will be replaced in the draw by Australian James Duckworth, who will take on Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves in the first round.

One year ago, Frances Tiafoe enjoyed his breakthrough moment. Having never advanced past the fourth round at the US Open, the American rallied the support of the New York fans — and many throughout the world — to help push through to the semi-finals.

Tiafoe stunned Rafael Nadal and upset Andrey Rublev before pushing eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz to five sets in one of the most memorable matches of the season. His journey during the fortnight was documented in Netflix’s Break Point.

The ATP recently caught up with Tiafoe’s longtime girlfriend, Ayan Broomfield, to speak about the experience of filming for a docuseries and Tiafoe’s unforgettable tournament in New York.

“That two-week period completely changed his life, changed my life, changed his whole family's life. It was magical,” Broomfield said. “I think when people actually understand what it took for him to actually get there financially, and just his story, I think people understand that it was more than just a tennis match. It's literally a dream come true.

“I think his story being told in this kind of setting was kind of like a storytelling setting was amazing. And people really got to see Frances for who he actually is and what he brings to the sport.”

When Ethan Quinn was three years old, his parents handed him a tennis racquet and tied a ball to a string, hanging it from their patio.

“I just remember hitting the ball and feeling the ball. If I missed it would hit me in the face. That's about as much as I can remember about it,” Quinn told ATPTour.com. “I think it's just the thing that grasped my attention the most. I was never a kid who played video games or anything like that.”

For hours, the Californian would stand, swinging at the ball over and over before his parents would took him inside. Just before Ethan’s fifth birthday, his family moved to a new house. Hitting the ball hanging from the patio is the only memory he has of their old home.

That young boy, who simply enjoyed swinging his racquet is now one of the brightest young talents in American tennis. On Monday, the 2023 NCAA men’s singles champion will make his main draw debut at the US Open against Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

To understand the 19-year-old’s rise is to look back at his roots in Fresno, California. The new home his family moved to was two blocks from Fig Garden Swim & Racquet Club.

ATPTour.com looks at five ATP Challenger Tour players to keep your eyes on during the US Open.

Alex Michelsen
The 18-year-old American won his first Challenger title last month in Chicago and has since continued his surge. The following week, Michelsen was a finalist at the ATP 250 event in Newport despite competing in just his second tour-level tournament.

Michelsen was committed to play college tennis at the University of Georgia this upcoming year, but the World No. 133 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings announced his decision to forgo his college eligibility and turn pro in early August. The California native will bring his rock-solid backhand to his major main-draw debut in Flushing Meadows, where he opens against Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Jakub Mensik
In May, the big-serving Mensik won the ATP Challenger Tour event in Prague, where he became the youngest Czech Challenger champion in history (since 1978). The 2022 Australian Open boys’ singles finalist was ranked outside the Top 800 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last August and has since risen to No. 191.

The 17-year-old is the second-youngest player in the US Open main draw, behind American Learner Tien. Mensik, who will meet Frenchman Gregoire Barrere in the first round, advanced through qualifying to make his first major main draw.

The youngest player in the US Open field is 17-year-old Learner Tien from Irvine, California. The only other player his age in the tournament is Jakub Mensik, who turns 18 on 1 September.

Tien will try to secure his first tour-level victory when he faces 2022 semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe on Monday inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Before the match, ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the Tien.

Learner First Held A Racquet Before Turning Two
Tien’s parents, Khuong Tien and Huyen Tien, played tennis recreationally. Naturally, they passed the sport onto their son from a young age. In fact, Tien first held a racquet at the age of one and a half.

A lefty, he would play with his family at community courts in Irvine, California. His father was his primary coach until he was brought into the USTA Player Development programme at 10 or 11 years old.

The Californian First Played The US Open Aged 16
One year ago, Tien competed in the US Open as a 16-year-old, pushing Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic to four sets. He earned his wild card into the draw by winning the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships, becoming the event’s youngest champion since Donald Young in 2005.

Before Christopher Eubanks became the world-beating player fans grew to know during the grass-court season, the American was known for his magnetic personality.

Earlier this year at the Dallas Open, the tournament’s social media team asked WTA stars Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys about their countryman.

“Oh Lord,” Stephens said. “Don’t even get me started on that giraffe. We love Chris. We love Daddy Longlegs.”

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Eubanks was the centre of attention in the locker room long before he was under the spotlight on court. The 27-year-old is longtime friends with the likes of Stephens, Keys, Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka. The WTA stars have been thrilled to see Eubanks’ rise.

Winning the title in just your third ATP Challenger Tour event of the year?

No problem for Ecuador’s Alvaro Guillen Meza, who was crowned champion Saturday at the Lima Challenger, where he defeated Jamaica’s Blaise Bicknell 7-6(3), 6-1 in the final. The 20-year-old, who is one of four Challenger titlists this week, is the youngest champion from Ecuador since Giovanni Lapentti in 2003.

Competing in his eighth Challenger tournament, Guillen Meza’s ability to hold his nerve in pressure moments throughout the week helped him lift the trophy. He fended off 10 of 16 break points faced in the second round to upset fifth seed Gustavo Heide and against the 21-year-old Bicknell, Guillen Meza saved all three break points faced.

"I had to stay focussed all week and I managed to win. The truth was [I was] quite calm, I don't know why," Guillen Meza said in Spanish. "It is a very special day for me and I am very happy."

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When Novak Djokovic fulfilled his US Open media responsibilities on Friday, one of his stops was with the tournament’s social media team, which asked him to share a few words about his first-round opponent, Alexandre Muller.

“He's good looking,” Djokovic said, cracking a laugh. “But that's not enough.”

“I think it's true,” Muller quipped to ATPTour.com the next day. “I think he doesn't know me. But maybe he saw some pictures and he thought I was beautiful.”

Muller is far more than that, though. The 26-year-old is enjoying the best season of his career and serving as an inspiration to plenty of people of all ages throughout the world. At the age of 14, the Frenchman was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

“I was just a little bit sick. I went to the doctor, and he gave me some medicine,” Muller recalled. “I was quite young — 14 years old is young — so I kept it to myself for one year. But it was like an inflammation. So after one year, the inflammation was so big and I couldn't move anymore. I lost maybe 10 kilos.

Jack Sock on Sunday announced on social media that the US Open will be his final tournament.

“To the 8 year old boy who immediately fell in low with the sport of tennis. I hope I made you proud,” Sock posted on Instagram. “It’s been 14 years of memories I will never forget. From winning four Grand Slams, Olympic Gold and Bronze, Top 10 rankings in singles and doubles and competing on the Davis Cup and Laver Cup teams, it’s been beyond what I could’ve ever dreamed. Without the help of so many people, none of that could've happened.”

The American made his tour-level debut at the US Open in 2010 and went on to win four singles titles, including the ATP Masters 1000 crown in Paris in 2017. The 30-year-old also lifted 17 tour-level doubles trophies, winning the Nitto ATP Finals crown in 2018 with Mike Bryan.

Sock, who reached a career-high No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, will compete for the final time at the US Open, where he will play doubles alongside John Isner, who is also retiring following the hard-court major.