No spectators inside Flushing Meadows complex amid the coronavirus pandemic
Tuesday 1 September 2020 06:45, UK
Britain's Cam Norrie battled back from two sets down to defeat Diego Schwartzman as Grand Slam tennis returned for the first time in 211 days at the US Open on Monday.
Norrie, ranked 76 in the world, smashed 39 winners and saved two match points in the deciding set before claiming his biggest win at a Grand Slam winning 3-6 4-6 6-2 6-1 7-5 in just under four hours on Court 5.
In a match featuring an astonishing 58 break points - a US Open record - Norrie looked down and out against the world No 13 as Schwartzman served for the match at 5-4 but clearly had little left in the tank and Norrie was again able to claw himself level before taking the next two games to wrap up victory.
Norrie said: "I'm pretty tired. The tennis level from me wasn't that great but I had a pretty good attitude and was fortunate to sneak through. It was a tough one.
"The first two sets I was rushing everything and making too many errors. But I backed myself physically and he was struggling a bit at the end.
"The British guys were watching and Schwartzman was getting a little bit upset at them cheering me. It was good to get over the line."
The British No 3 has never reached the third round at Flushing Meadows but he will have his chance when he meets another Argentine in the second round in the shape of world No 103 Federico Coria.
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas roared through after a straight-sets destruction of Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
The Greek star, who won the ATP Finals title at the O2 last year, breezed into round two with a 6-2 6-1 6-1 win.
Fifth seed Alexander Zverev came through the standout match of the first round against former finalist Kevin Anderson.
The 23-year-old German made it six wins from six against Anderson, winning 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-3 7-5.
Serbian Dusan Lajovic, seeded 18th, suffered a shock 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-4 defeat by Egor Gerasimov of Belarus.
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