New York - Weary Rafael Nadal held off a determined German qualifier, requiring nearly three hours to stop Bjorn Phau 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) on Monday to reach the second round of the US Open. Nadal, playing as top seed and number one at a Grand Slam for the first time after displacing Roger Federer a week ago atop the ATP rankings, had to swallow a double-fault while serving for victory leading 5-4 in the third set.
He eventually won in a subsequent tiebreaker over the feisty number 136 Phau, playing in only his second ATP main draw of the season.
"I didn't play with normal intensity," confessed the Spaniard, a week after winning Olympic gold in Beijing. "I had less than the last few months, for sure.
"But the important this is finally to win. I know I'm playing well. I have done it the last few months. Probably I'm a little bit more tired, more than usual, but I think I am playing good tennis."
It took an hour to complete the first set, with Nadal never out of danger against the outsider.
At his sixth US Open, Nadal kept alive his streak of never having lost in a New York first round. He won his 71st match of the season as he overcame the 28-year-old Phau in the pair's first meeting.
The four-time French Open champion is bidding to follow Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer as the fourth man to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles in the post-1968 Open Era after winning the French Open and Wimbledon already in 2008.
Nadal led the way for seeds on opening day at Flushing Meadows, with fellow Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer taking out Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, 6-2.
British sixth seed Andy Murray bounced back from Olympic disappointment with his defeat of South American journeyman Sergio Roitman 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, despite being hit once by a serve.
"I didn't lose my serve the whole match," said the Scot. "He played pretty well for, you know, about a set and a half. He was hitting his forehand really hard and making me do a bit of running. It was a decent test, and I came through it pretty well."
Argentine seventh seed David Nalbandian reached the second round over Brazil's Marcos Daniel 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, while Swiss number 10 Stan Wawrinka beat Italian Simone Bolelli 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3.
French number 16 Gilles Simon advanced over Spaniard Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
In women's play, 10th seed Anna Chakvetadze was the lone upset victim, falling to fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
There were first-round victories for third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who put out China's Shuai Zhang 6-4, 6-2, and Beijing gold medallist Elena Dementieva, a winner over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-4, 7-5.
Former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, the number 12, stopped Russian Galina Voskoboeva 6-2, 6-3; 14th seed Victoria Azarenka defeated Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 6-1.
Former champion Lindsay Davenport started with a win over Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-2, then said she was still pondering her future in the game at age 32 with a 1-year-old child.
