• US Open, Day One

Sharapova, Stosur and Azarena impress

ESPN staff
August 27, 2012
Maria Sharapova had too much firepower for Melinda Czink © PA Photos
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Maria Sharapova shrugged off any fitness concerns with a 6-2 6-2 win over Melinda Czink in the first round of the US Open.

There were questions to answer for Sharapova, who had skipped a couple of the warm-up events and had not been sighted since losing the Olympic final. But she proved herself to be in top trim the for the final grand slam of the year with a dominant display.

Up against a player making her US Open debut, Sharapova was dominant from the back of the court and had too much firepower for her Hungarian opponent.

Czink matched Sharapova for four games, but the Russian stepped things up mid-way through the opening set.

After taking the first set, Sharapova was rocked when Czink worked a break of her own. But the No. 3 seed quickly regained her composure and turned on the style with the match in her grasp.

Sharapova has often struggled with her movement around the court, but she chased down what appeared a lost cause and got the ball back before tracking back into court for a brilliant winner.

Czink was left with a look of shocked admiration on her face and it was effectively the end of her challenge as Sharapova broke once again before wrapping up the match on her own serve.

Sam Stosur made a stunning start to the defence of her US Open title with a 6-1 6-1 demolition of Petra Martic.

The Australian has had a mixed year, but the hard courts of Flushing Meadows play to her strengths and she completely overwhelmed Martic to send a clear indicator to tournament favourite Serena Williams.

Stosur won the opening 19 points of the match but a double fault at 40-0 in the fifth game denied her a shot at a golden set. Martic avoided the bagel, but she had no answers to the power hitting and speed around the court of her opponent who took the opening set in 22 minutes.

The dominance continued in the second set, with Stosur showing her class at the net with a leaping smash to help her break Martic.

Stosur powered down six aces in the opening set and this dominance on serve enabled her to play with freedom. Martic failed to carve out a single break point and she was broken on three occasions in the second set as Stour powered into round two.

Victoria Azarenka is flying under the radar despite being the No. 1 seed. But she made an early statement with a 6-0 6-1 mauling of Alexandra Panova. Azarenka surrendered just 18 points in a match that lasted a mere 50 minutes.

Three-time US Open champion Kim Clijsters opened up her final Flushing Meadows campaign with a 6-3 6-1 win over Victoria Duval. The Belgian, who is set to retire at the end of the tournament, made a slow start but steadily found her range and by the mid-way point of the second set she was crunching winners for fun.

Petra Kvitova came through a tough first set before asserting her authority to 7-6(6) 6-1 win over Polona Herzog.

Anabel Medina Garrigues was the first seed to fall, with Lucie Hradecka easing to a 6-3 6-3 win over the No. 27 seed, while Casey Dellacqua joined her fellow Australian Stosur in round two following a 6-2 6-3 win over Lesia Tsurenko.

There were other seeds to fall, with the No. 18 seed Julia Goerges losing to Kristyna Pliskova and Sabine Lisicki, seeded 16, falling to Sorana Cirstea.

Marion Bartoli did not join the list of seeds to fall, with the Frenchwoman defeating Jamie Hampton 6-3 7-6(5), while Nadia Petrova, the 19th seed, beat Jarmila Gajdosova by the same scoreline.

Lucie Safarova advanced with relative ease on Louis Armstrong court, beating Melanie Oudin 6-4 6-0.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the No. 17 seed, came through a tense struggle with Daniela Hantuchova - winning 6-4 7-6(1).

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