Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrating after winning against Moldova's Radu Albot during first round match of the US Open championships in New York on Monday — AP NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters): Novak Djokovic's bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title kicked off on Monday with a rusty 6-2 6-2 6-4 win over qualifier Radu Albot in the US Open first round as the defending champion returned to the court after his Olympic triumph.
Three weeks after winning the singles title at the Paris Games, Djokovic toted his rackets and gear in a pair of gold-coloured bags onto centre court where the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd gave him a hero's welcome.
But the Serb's golden touch was decidedly lacking in the late night match as he struggled with serve and racked up nearly twice as many unforced errors as winners.
For all that, he had more than enough weapons to handle Moldovan Albot in their first tour clash and claim a record 78th win at Arthur Ashe under a closed roof.
"I was not aware of it, to be honest with you," Djokovic said of the centre court milestone.
Meanwhile, defending champion Coco Gauff overcame early nerves to cruise by France's Varvara Gracheva 6-2 6-0 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday.
Gauff was popular as ever with her home crowd as she sent 10 aces over on Arthur Ashe Stadium, showing her determination to put a string of frustrating performances behind her in New York.
"I was just trying to enjoy the match," said Gauff, who set up a meeting with German Tatjana Maria in the next round. "I think today was the best tennis I've played in a while."
Gauff suffered early exits at tune-up tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto and there were early signs of trouble as she had five double faults in the first set.
She had to fend off three break points to hold her serve in the second game but the world number three found her footing from there, breaking her opponent's serve in the third and seventh games.
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