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U.S. Open Round 1 photos: (Mostly) uneventful start for title contenders
Rafael Nadal replaces his headband during his first-round match. (Timothy Clarey/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK -- Aside from 17-year-old Victoria Duval's upset of 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur in the first round on Tuesday night, it's been a fairly uneventful first couple of days in Flushing Meadows. On the men's side, the top contenders have cruised, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer failing to drop a set. Federer even went back out to the practice court after his 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win over Grega Zemlja to put in more work.
On the women's side, top seed and heavy favorite Serena Williams started her tournament by dropping just one game to Francesca Schiavone. Her biggest threat for the title, Victoria Azarenka, came out 24 hours later and one-upped her by winning 12 straight games over Dinah Pfizenmaier to win 6-0, 6-0. Game on.
With rain delaying play on Day 3, let's look back at the sunnier first two days of the U.S. Open. Here are some of our favorite photos from the past few days.
Florent Serra: Tennis among the crowds. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
Roger Federer: His extra practice session after his win means Federer's ailing back must be feeling pretty good. (Elsa/Getty Images)
Laura Robson: Things are looking up for the Brit teen, who got through her first-round match with a heavily taped right wrist. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Ana Ivanovic: Ivanovic chatted up Philadelphia Phillies Michael Young, Kevin Frandsen and John McDonald. Or maybe it was the other way around. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Novak Djokovic: The Human Hovercraft. (Elsa/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy and Piotr Wozniacki: When Caroline wins, everyone's happy. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)
Victoria Azarenka: Don't ask me what she's doing. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
Mirka Federer: We have now reached the point where we're going to have to start learning how to differentiate the Federer twins. (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Marion Bartoli: From Wimbledon champion to confused spectator trying to work a tablet. Only you, Marion. (Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
Richard Gasquet: A view from the player tunnel. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)
Victoria Duval
Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.