Top seeds Wozniacki, Nadal take openers

NEW YORK - Caroline Wozniacki won her first match as a Grand Slam tournament's No. 1-seeded player, beating NCAA champion Chelsey Gullickson, 6-1, 6-1, in the U.S. Open.

Because of long matches earlier, this one began at 11:52 p.m. Tuesday night and ended at 12:53 a.m. Wednesday.

The University of Georgia's Gullickson, daughter of former major-league pitcher Bill Gullickson, took the first two points and held a break point in the opening game. But Wozniacki erased that with an ace, and the Dane eventually went ahead, 3-0.

Gullickson, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., was making her Grand Slam debut two days after her 20th birthday. She isn't ranked and got into the tournament with a wild card.

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Maria Sharapova also won first-round matches, while Li Na and Marcos Baghdatis were among the seeded players to exit.

Nadal, the top seed who hopes to complete a career Grand Slam with the U.S. Open title, was a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 winner over 93d-ranked Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili.

"It was a very tough match," the Spaniard said. "I served well tonight; hopefully, it continues like this."

Sharapova, the 2006 champion, was a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 winner over Australia's Jarmila Groth, while Djokovic was pushed to five sets by fellow Serb Viktor Troicki. Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, the U.S. Open runner-up in 2008, needed 21/2 hours to beat Romania's Simona Halep, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Lengthy matches weren't the only challenge for many players, who also endured temperatures that soared to 110 degrees.

"The heat issue is something that's just there. You cannot affect it," the third-seeded Djokovic said after a 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win that took 3 hours, 45 minutes.

Eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain, No. 16 Baghdatis of Cyprus, and No. 19 Mardy Fish also played five-set matches.

Spain's Verdasco, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist last year, came back for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win against Italy's Fabio Fognini, while Fish got by Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic, 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Arnaud Clement, an unseeded Frenchman, beat Baghdatis, 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5. Baghdatis was the highest men's seed to be eliminated.

China's Li was the top player in the women's draw to be ousted. The eighth seed was beaten, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, by Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko.

Sharapova overcame a deficit and a big-hitting opponent to avoid a significant upset. The 2006 champion at Flushing Meadows played solidly and often safely against the 60th-ranked Groth.

"She came out firing; didn't give me many opportunities," said Sharapova, who is seeded 14th.

Mardy Fish, an American seeded 19th, won in five sets, but fan favorite James Blake needed only three to reach the second round.