Perhaps it was a hidden blessing that most of the Australian men's singles players took the court in the early hours (AEST) of day two of the US Open.
Because apart from Chris O'Connell's four-set victory over his compatriot Max Purcell, there wasn't much special.
Jason Kübler had to give up his match against Matteo Arnaldi after only 10 games because of a knee injury.
The 6-3, 1-0 win was one of many disappointing results as James Duckworth failed to save against 168th-ranked Brazilian Felipe Alves and Aleksandar Vukic failed to put Alexander Zverev under pressure.
Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 win over Hungary's Attila Balazs.
Medvedev, the 2021 champion in New York, edged unranked journeyman Balazs by 41 wins in a one-sided game that lasted 74 minutes.
The Russian is now playing O'Connell for a place in the last 32.
The world number three, who was also second to Rafael Nadal here in 2019, said he was happy to slip under the radar while much of the spotlight was on Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
“I don't care. It's normal that Carlos and Novak are the biggest names at the moment,” Medvedev said.
“My goal is to play well, get to where they are and try to win.”
In the women's draw, Tunisia's Ons Jabeur overcame a medical scare to defeat Colombia's Camila Osorio.
Jabeur, who has been on the hunt for her first Grand Slam title since 2022 after three painful final defeats, opened her US Open season with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) win at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The 29-year-old appeared to struggle in a tense first set, complaining to the referee about struggling to breathe after Osorio fought his way from a 4-1 deficit to equalize 4-4.
Jabeur required medical attention after trailing 5-4 in the first set and apparently had her blood pressure taken during a time-out.
She then rallied to win the opener and seemed on course to victory after saving two match points in the second set to go 5-3.
However, Osorio gathered all his strength to avoid defeat and equalized after a break against Jabeur to make it 5:5.
Jabeur immediately recovered from his break and took a 6-5 lead, but was then broken again, resulting in a tiebreak in the second set.
However, Jabeur proved too strong for Osorio in the break and now meets Czech Linda Noskova in the second round.
Early results of the second day
Men — Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) d Jason Kubler (AUS) 6-3, 3-0 – eliminated
Alexander Zverev (GER) d Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs. Attila Balazs (HUN) 6-1, 6-1, 6-0
Felipe Meligeni Alves (BRA) vs. James Duckworth (AUS) 6-4, 7-6 (11/13), 6-3
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) d Ugo Humbert (FRA) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) d Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
Women — Katie Boulter (GBR) d Diane Parry (FRA) 6-4, 6-0
Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) d Claire Liu (USA) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3
Tamara Korpatsch (GER) d Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 6-3, 6-2
Ons Jabeur (TUN) and Camila Osorio (COL) 7-5, 7-6 (7/4)
Linda Noskova (CZE) vs. Madison Brengle (USA) 6-2, 6-1
Marie Bouzkova (CZE) d Ashlyn Krueger (USA) 7-5, 6-4
– with AFP
