Red alert as Sharapova lets fly

NEW YORK: Maria Sharapova opened the defense of her US Open crown in commanding style on Tuesday by overpowering Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-0, 6-1 in under an hour.   

The Russian second seed showed no signs of the shoulder and shin injuries that have dogged her this year as she outgunned her opponent from the first exchanges and pocketed the first set in just 23 minutes.   

It was more of the same in the second set as the 20-year-old Russian glamour girl, dressed in a seamless bright red dress with glittering sequins on the front, unleashed all her firepower on her shell-shocked opponent.   

It was all over in 50 minutes sending Sharapova into a second round tie against unheralded Australian Casey Dellacqua.   

"It's great to be back, to step on to this court at night - just feel the vibes and be on the centre court again," she said.   

"Every corner I turn here I get goosebumps. When you come back to the place you won your second major, its incredible.   

"And to come in to defend my title when I am healthy, that's the best part."   

There were straight-sets wins also for two former New York champions, Martina Hingis (1997) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (2004).   

In the men's tournament, Novak Djokovic of Serbia and home hopes James Blake and Andy Roddick all kick-started their US Open campaigns with straight-sets wins.   

Sixth-seeded Blake, who is in the same half of the draw as defending champion and favourite Roger Federer, had too much firepower for veteran compatriot Michael Russell, winning 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).   

Third seed Djokovic, who could meet Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals for the third straight Grand Slam tournament, disposed of Dutch lucky-loser Robin Haase 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.   

And last year's beaten finalist Roddick, the fifth seed, defeated Justin Gimelstob 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 6-3 in an entertaining curtain-call for the second day's play.   

Other seeds to go through in a day largely devoid of upsets were 12th seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, who defeated Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-1, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 and 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, who outclassed Amer Delic of the United States 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.   

Djokovic came into New York being touted as the new 'third force' in men's tennis following his tremendous back-to-back wins over Nadal and Federer at the Montreal Masters.   

"It's always good to get the first match done in the fastest possible way," the 20-year-old said.    "I was playing against a lucky loser but I did not want to underestimate my opponent and I was even a little bit nervous at the start.   

"In Montreal I played the best tennis in my life and now I have more confidence and belief that I can do well in the Grand Slams at the US Open."   

Djokovic's possible fourth-round opponent is Hewitt and he was equally impressive blasting past American giant Delic.   

The Australian, who is battling to get back into the world top 10 after a long struggle with injuries, said he was joyful to be fully fit again.   

"It just makes it a lot easier when you know the body is going to hold up out there - not having niggling injuries every second week," he said.   

Blake took 2 hours 41 minutes to subdue a gritty Russell and had to come from behind in both tie-breaks they played.   

"I'm playing some of my best tennis right now and I'm coming in here very confident," he said.    "It's one of those things where for me when I'm winning a lot of matches the way I have been. I just feel like I'm going to win them."   

Next up for Blake is French veteran Fabrice Santoro, who equalled Andre Agassi's Open-era record number of Grand Slam events contested (61) when he played and won in four sets against Spain's Albert Montanes.   

Hingis was in a pensive mood following her 6-0, 6-3 win over French youngster Mathilde Johansson.    "I see the freshness and hunger, how I used to be," Hingis said.

"When you get older, priorities change. You look at life differently. There are days you think that was a nice lifestyle when you train every day like six hours.   

"But then on the other hand, right now I feel like I don't want to miss a minute of being out there, being able to compete."   

Kuznetsova said after her 6-2, 6-3 win over Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic that she was just happy to be back in New York, the scene of her breakthrough win in 2004.   

"I love the crowd and I love New York," she said.   

Top seeds Federer and Justine Henin are both in action on Wednesday.   

Federer, going for his fourth straight US Open title, takes on Paul Capdeville of Chile, while Henin, looking for second win in New York after 2003 goes up against Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.