Djokovic falls as Boulter and Samuel make British starts count

The US Open main draw opened with a five-set exit for Novak Djokovic, a three-set British win for Katie Boulter and a clean first-round statement from Toby Samuel.

Mariano Navone gave the US Open its first proper shock of the main draw, beating fourth seed Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the early-hours finish. Djokovic looked to have steadied the match after taking sets two and three, but Navone ran away with the last two sets and left a sizeable gap in that quarter before the second day had even started.

There was British damage and British relief on the same first-round card. Cameron Norrie took the opening tie-break from Luca Van Assche, then lost 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Katie Boulter went the other way, recovering from a loose middle set to beat Carol Young Suh Lee 6-4, 3-6, 6-0. Toby Samuel, who came through qualifying after Cristian Garin retired in the final round, backed it up with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win over Tomas Machac.

Boulter and Samuel settle quickly

Boulter's scoreline had a useful shape to it. Lee pulled the match level, but Boulter answered by taking the decider without dropping a game. Her next opponent was still being settled at the time of this roundup, with the Sinja Kraus versus Karolina Muchova section yet to complete on the official order of play.

Samuel's day was cleaner. He broke through qualifying last week and did not make his first main-draw match look like an emotional comedown, dropping seven games against Machac. That keeps him in the draw while the rest of his section catches up, including Jacob Fearnley's scheduled opener against Martin Landaluce.

Norrie will be irritated by the route out. He edged Van Assche 8-6 in the first-set tie-break, then won only seven games across the next three sets. For a seeded player, that is an abrupt first-round stop rather than a slow fade.

Seeds already under pressure

Djokovic's defeat was the headline result, but it was not the only seeded movement. In the women's draw, Kamilla Rakhimova beat 27th seed Barbora Krejcikova 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Jasmine Paolini, seeded 19th, had to work through a three-setter against Veronika Erjavec, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, while Jessica Pegula made a calmer start with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

On the men's side, Daniil Medvedev, Tommy Paul, Jiri Lehecka, Arthur Rinderknech, Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Alexander Bublik all came through. Jaume Munar had one of the longer escapes of the day, coming from two sets down to beat Terence Atmane 6-7 (5-7), 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.

Venus pushes Kenin late

Venus Williams had the late New York slot and made Sofia Kenin earn the finish. Kenin won 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), saving herself from a deciding set after Williams forced the second set into a proper scrap.

Elsewhere in the women's first round, Elina Svitolina beat Solana Sierra 6-1, 6-2, Leylah Fernandez beat Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-2, Marta Kostyuk beat Storm Hunter 6-4, 6-1, and Ekaterina Alexandrova beat McCartney Kessler 6-2, 6-2. Karolina Pliskova came through Hanne Vandewinkel 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.