Rafael Nadal of Spain eyes the ball during the men's singles first round match between Rafael Nadal of Spain and John Millman of Australia at the 2019 US Open in New York, the United States, Aug. 27, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
NEW YORK, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Rafael Nadal raced past Australia's John Millman 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
The Spaniard put together a strong performance, holding all of his service games to close out the match in a little over two hours.
"I'm very happy with the victory and very happy to be back in New York," said Nadal, who arrived in the city fresh from claiming his 35th ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
"The first match is always a little bit new. Even if I've played here many times, the beginnings are not easy. The serve worked well tonight and while my backhand wasn't as good as it can be, I am very happy."
The Spaniard added, "When you start the tournament, you have difficult opponents in front. You need to go on court and respect every single opponent. I went on court today against a tough opponent knowing that I needed to play well to win. If you play badly, you can lose."
The second seed gave Millman little opportunity to stage a comeback. Nadal broke early in every set, saved all three break points he faced, and converted five of the 15 chances he earned.
"I'm happy the way that I was able to win tonight," Nadal said. "It's a good start."
The Spaniard now faces a second round tie against Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia.
