Djokovic Through as Niland Retires

Conor Niland

Novak Djokovic spent just 44 minutes securing his place in round two of the US Open as Ireland's Conor Niland was forced to retire because of illness.

Niland came through qualifying and was playing the biggest match of his life, but walked onto court apparently suffering with food poisoning.

And when Djokovic went 6-0 5-1 up, an ailing Niland admitted defeat.

"I've been feeling pretty rotten for a couple of days and basically it was bad timing," Niland told BBC Radio 5 live.

Asked if he had considered not playing the match, Niland added: "It was something I wanted to do. I thought maybe if there was a miracle I could do OK, but I wasn't able to eat the last two days so I had nothing in my legs energy-wise.

"It was great to qualify. I got a lot out of it and I still got quite a bit out of today.

"Obviously the timing seems pretty cruel to me. I've been a couple of years without getting any sort of food poisoning and to get it two days before the biggest match of my career seems pretty weird."

Not surprisingly, Djokovic had contrasting emotions, saying: "I felt great on the court, and that's something that's really important for the start of the tournament. Today was a great opening performance."

And asked about the shoulder injury that forced him to retire from the recent Cincinnati final, he added: "Today I didn't feel any pain. I served well and I played well, so I have no concern."

Fifth seed David Ferrer and 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made it through, while Rafael Nadal plays later.

Frenchman Tsonga enjoyed a 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory over Yen-Hsun Luof Taiwan opponent to win and set up a meeting with Sergei Bubka, who beat Andreas Haider-Maurer.

Spain's Ferrer will play Jesse Huta Galung or James Blake after seeing off Igor Andreev 2-6 6-3 6-0 6-4.

"That was really good," said Tsonga after beating Lu in two hours and nine minutes on Grandstand court.

"He was a tough opponent and I'm happy to win in straight sets. I've had good preparation - I played well in Montreal, not so well in Cincinnati but I had good time to recover and practice well.

"I feel ready, fit and hopefully I will have some good moments here at the US Open. I feel good here, the fans support me and I hope to do well for them."

Stanislas Wawrinka, the 14th seed who beat Andy Murray in New York last year and could face a rematch with the Briton in round four, beat Maximo Gonzalez 3-6 6-4 6-1 6-3.

And Latvia's Ernests Gulbis had an impressive 6-2 6-4 6-4 win over 16th seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.