Day 3 of the 2011 U.S. Open Underway

Been busy here at the 2011 U.S. Open, where yesterday in Arthur Ashe Stadium we watched Novak Djokovic easily advance over Ireland’s Conor Niland, who tried to play with a nasty case of food poisoning…Conor eventually retired. So an easy start to the fourth major of the year for Nole…

Last night – Rafael Nadal took the court first, and found himself tested by Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev, who broke Rafa’s serve 6-times during the match. Nadal still managed to win in straight-sets, breaking back and coming from behind in both the first and second sets.

Serena Williams was on fire during the night-cap against hard-hitting Serbian Bojana Jovanovski, and kicked-off her return to the U.S. Open with a straight-sets win.

Today, we’re enjoying a competitive 3-setter second-round match between Kateryna Bondarenko and Vera Zvonareva. As I type, Zvonareva is up (4-3) in the third set, after winning the first (7-5) and dropping the second (3-6).

Next up here on Ashe – Andy Murray’s first 2011 match on center court, as he takes on India’s Somdev Devvarman. We’ll cap the day session with Venus Williams’ second round match against Sabine Lisicki of Germany.

Tonight – Andy Roddick faces fellow American Michael Russell in the first round, then Maria Sharapova tries to keep her hopes alive in a round-two match up with Anastasiya Yakimova.

We’re having a blast here in Flushing Meadows, and look forward to seeing you here at the 2011 U.S. Open…