Djokovic begins title defence with easy win

New York: Defending champion Novak Djokovic lost the first game on Tuesday then ran off 18 of the next 19 en route to a 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 win over Paolo Lorenzi of Italy in the first round of the US Open.

Second-seeded Djokovic won 79 of 114 points and finished with seven aces and 32 winners compared to zero and 10 for his opponent. The match took only 73 minutes.

After Lorenzi won the first game of the third set, he raised his hands in mock victory and got a nice hand from the crowd. But that was it. He won the same number of games he did to start the Grand Slam season, in a 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 loss to Djokovic in the first round of the Australian Open.