Novak Djokovic guaranteed his return to World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings Monday night with a commanding opening-round win over Frenchman Alexandre Muller at the US Open.

Playing his first match at Flushing Meadows since Daniil Medvedev denied him a calendar-year Grand Slam in the 2021 final, Djokovic punished the World No. 84 with nine early forehand winners as he took the first eight games of the contest and soon after the match 6-0, 6-2, 6-3. 

“The first set I started tremendously well off the box,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview. “We started quite late. Obviously, there was a ceremony between matches and I knew that we might have a late start, but nevertheless I was excited to come out on the court. It’s been a couple of years, and to come out here in front of you guys is always an honour and a pleasure here on Arthur Ashe.”

What a way to kick things off in NYC 🤩@DjokerNole knocks out Muller 6-0 6-2 6-3.@usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/dsiL0X3yRd

— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 29, 2023

Watched by former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, Djokovic dominated from start to finish, clipping 32 winners to Muller’s 11 and excelling at net, winning 20 of 23 approaches.  He also dropped just five points on first serve.  

“I think I could have served [better] in the second and third. I dropped the level of my serve and had to work for my points a bit more, but nevertheless I think I played great from the beginning to the end,” said Djokovic. “Some hiccups, but I liked my level and hopefully I can maintain it in the next round as well.”

The win made certain the Serbian’s displacement of defending US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz as World No. 1 on 11 September, when Djokovic will begin a record-extending 390th week at the top.

Djokovic, 36, is also chasing a record-extending 10th US Open final appearance (3-6 record). Having won the Australian Open and Roland Garros, and reached the Wimbledon final, the 23-time major champion is looking to reach the final of all four Slams in the same season for the third time in his career (2021 and 2015).

In the second round Djokovic will face World No. 76 Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles, who defeated American NCAA champion Ethan Quinn 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

“He’s a clay-court specialist but over the years all these guys learn how to play on the hard courts,” said Djokovic of Zapata Miralles. “There’s no easy opponent, obviously I respect everyone. I don’t underestimate anybody and try to give my best. Hopefully I can get another win in a few days.”

It was a brutal US Open debut for Muller, who raised his arms in light-hearted celebration when he finally got on the board in the ninth game of the match. Muller had just two tour-level hard-court wins on the season coming into the tournament.

Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered a catastrophe 12 months ago when he took to Louis Armstrong stadium for his opening match of the US Open.

Then World No. 94 Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan swung for the fences and took the racquet out of the Greek’s hand, winning the first 11 games of the match and ultimately prevailing in four sets after clubbing 41 winners.

The seventh seed could be forgiven for feeling a little trepidation as he walked back to Armstrong Monday night to face dangerous Canadian Milos Raonic, who owned a 2-0 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and who dropped 49 aces in two matches at Wimbledon this year.

Coached solely on the night by Mark Philippoussis, Tsitsipas was also looking for a confidence booster, having won just one match in Toronto and Cincinnati on the heels of capturing his first title of the year in Los Cabos at the beginning of this month.

The former Nitto ATP Finals champion dropped just five games in the opening two sets and responded with back-to-back breaks in the third after Raonic opened a 4-2 lead to close out a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win. The 25-year-old two-time major finalist limited Raonic to just eight aces and played a tidy match himself, hitting 25 winners to 20 unforced errors, while his opponent conceded 48 unforced errors and five service breaks.

“It was fun to play high quality tennis against a champion like Milos,” Tsitsipas said on court after the match. “He’s dealing with a comeback and I knew he had nothing to lose. I had to bring my A game from the very first point. I made it physical and it worked.”

Tsitsipas, who has twice reached the third round at Flushing Meadows but never reached the second week, next faces the winner of Dominic Stricker and Alexei Popyrin.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 15th-seeded Canadian, slipped into negative territory (14-15) on the year after falling 7-6(5), 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to American Mackenzie McDonald in three hours, 26 minutes.  Felix, who won 60 matches last year, has dropped 11of his past 14 matches.

McDonald, who reached the Toronto quarter-finals and the third round in Cincinnati, moved past his 26-match wins total for the 2022 season with Monday’s victory and moved to a career-high No. 37 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He next meets the winner of Hugo Dellien and Borna Gojo.

Top 10 stars Casper Ruud and Holger Rune were both involved in four-set matches Monday at the US Open but only Ruud survived his first-round test at the hard-court major in New York.

The 2022 finalist Ruud held off home qualifier Emilio Nava 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) on Court 17 at Flushing Meadows for his 200th tour-level victory. The fifth seed overcame an uber-aggressive performance from the 21-year-old Nava, who struck a remarkable 72 winners to Ruud’s 27 but was unable to find the consistency required to pull off an upset.

Aware of his opponent’s desire to dictate, Ruud stayed cool and offered up just 21 unforced errors to Nava’s 49 across the four sets. That approach was particularly key in the tie-breaks he won in the first and fourth sets, as Ruud’s greater experience told under pressure.

Ruud is now 10-5 at the US Open, where he fell to Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s championship match. His next opponent as he seeks another deep run at Flushing Meadows will be Zhang Zhizhen, after the Chinese star defied a J.J. Wolf comeback for a 7-5, 7-5, 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-3 first-round win.

Roberto Carballes Baena earlier engineered the first major upset of the fortnight in New York as the World No. 63 defeated fourth seed Rune 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Carballes Baena broke Rune seven times on Court 5 as he registered his first Top 10 win at the 14th attempt in two hours, 42 minutes. He stayed rock-solid against a visibly frustrated Rune, who has now lost four straight tour-level matches stretching back to his quarter-final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon.

A STUNNING WIN 👏

The moment @Robertocarba93 secured the first Top 10 win of his career!

🎥 @usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/NEK6GiRocf

— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 28, 2023

The 30-year-old Carballes Baena made just 21 unforced errors to Rune’s 43, frugality which kept the Dane under constant pressure throughout the pair’s first meeting since Wimbledon. Rune was a straight-sets winner at SW19 but could not raise his level consistently enough in Monday’s clash in New York to prevent Carballes Baena taking a 2-1 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against the World No. 4.

Now into the second round for the fifth time in six main-draw appearances at Flushing Meadows, Carballes Baena next faces Jiri Lehecka or Aslan Karatsev as he looks to reach the third round for the first time.

Frances Tiafoe made a fast start at the US Open Monday, where he moved past American wild card Learner Tien 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 to reach the second round.

The 10th seed Tiafoe enjoyed a standout run to the semi-finals on home soil in New York last year, defeating then-Top 10 stars Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev before falling to champion Carlos Alcaraz. Competing on Arthur Ashe Stadium again, Tiafoe quickly found his range to entertain the American fans.

“I really love this court, I really enjoy playing here. It hasn’t been the best summer for me, but I love playing on this court,” said Tiafoe, who went 1-2 at ATP Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati in August. “I just want to come and do really well. The last time I played here was one of the toughest losses of my life. To come back out here and play as well as I did and take care of business is nice.

“I am leaving everything I’ve got. If I die out here, I die out here. I have to put it all on the line and hopefully it is good enough.”

The 25-year-old broke lefty Tien’s serve seven times, struck 37 winners and showed good touch around the net to advance after two hours and nine minutes.

Tiafoe, who is competing at a career-high No. 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, will next play Austrian Sebastian Ofner after the World No. 58 beat Nuno Borges 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4.

The three-time tour-level titlist Tiafoe has now won his past 17 matches against left handers, dating back to 2021, when he fell against Liam Broady in Eastbourne.

Tiafoe’s countryman Ben Shelton also advanced. The 20-year-old, currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah, defeated Pedro Cachin 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to set a second-round meeting against former champion Dominic Thiem.

Taylor Fritz ensured both Top 10 American stars advanced to the second round in New York. The World No. 9 Fritz moved past countryman Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in 81 minutes.

Fritz suffered a shock first-round defeat against Brandon Holt at the US Open last year, but produced a dominant display against Johnson to ensure he would not fall at the first hurdle again. The 25-year-old won 100 per cent (23/23) of his first-serve points and fired 10 aces to earn his 34th tour-level win of the year. He will next play Miomir Kecmanovic or Juan Pablo Varillas.

Fritz is chasing his maiden major this fortnight. The biggest trophy he has clinched on Tour was at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells in 2022.

American 14th seed Tommy Paul, who is up to a career-high No. 11 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, needed four sets to defeat Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia 6-2, 6-3, 4-6. 6-1. He next meets Wimbledon quarter-finalist Roman Safiullin.

Sebastian Korda, the 31st seeded American, lost a tough five-setter to Marton Fucsovics 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-4 one week after taking out the Hungarian at the Winston-Salem Open. Korda came into the US Open with an ankle injury, which forced him to withdraw from his scheduled semi-final in Winston-Salem without hitting a ball.

World No. 45 American J.J. Wolf also bowed out in five sets, falling 7-5, 7-5, 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-3 to China’s Zhang Zhizhen.

#NextGen ATP American Ben Shelton rallied from a set down to defeat Argentine Pedro Cachin 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Next Gen ATP Finals alumni Sebastian Baez and Jiri Lehecka enjoyed strong runs at the Winston-Salem Open to earn themselves a pre-US Open boost in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings as of 28 August 2023.

No. 29 Jiri Lehecka, +6 (Career High)
The 21-year-old Lehecka fell just short of his maiden ATP Tour crown in Winston-Salem but has nonetheless risen to a career-high No. 29. The Czech, who also reached the final at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals, defeated the in-form Max Purcell en route to the championship match at the ATP 250 before falling to Baez.

No. 23 Borna Coric, +6
The top seed in Winston-Salem, Coric’s run to his third tour-level semi-final of the season has boosted his chances of a swift return to the Top 20 after he dropped out last week. Baez edged the Croatian in a deciding tie-break to claim a three-hour, 19-minute last-four epic in North Carolina, but Coric will be happy to have gathered some momentum ahead of his US Open campaign.

No. 31 Sebastian Korda, +2
There was a bittersweet end for Korda in Winston-Salem, where the American saved match point to down Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals but was then forced to withdraw from the event due to an ankle injury sustained during his win against the Frenchman. Korda earlier dispatched Benjamin Bonzi and Marton Fucsovics in straight sets at the ATP 250, and next faces a rematch with the latter in the US Open first round.

No. 32 Sebastian Baez, +10
The 22-year-old Baez became just the fourth player to win at least three tour-level titles this season with his Winston-Salem triumph, joining Carlos Alcaraz (6 titles), Daniil Medvedev (5) and Novak Djokovic (4) on that list. The Argentine showed few signs of fatigue after his semi-final marathon with Coric, easing past Lehecka in the championship match to extend his winning streak to 10 matches.

No. 43 Max Purcell, +4 (Career High)
Australia’s Purcell backed up his quarter-final run in Cincinnati with another last-eight appearance in Winston-Salem. The 25-year-old upset second seed Tallon Griekspoor in the third-round for his 11th win (including qualifying matches) in August. Although Lehecka proved too strong in the quarter-finals, Purcell has risen four spots to a career-high No. 43.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers
No. 24 Tallon Griekspoor, +1 (Career High)
No. 55 Richard Gasquet, +2
No. 68 Brandon Nakashima, +4
No. 75 Dominik Koepfer, +3
No. 85 Yosuke Watanuki, +3 (Career High)
No. 89 Michael Mmoh, +5
No. 93 Juan Manuel Cerundolo, +7