Djokovic through despite ankle trouble

12:50am Thursday 28th August 2008

Novak Djokovic overcame an ankle injury to defeat Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-3 6-3 6-4 in the first round of the US Open on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Serb coasted through his first two sets, mixing his powerful serve with a barrage of precise groundstrokes but was floored by an ankle problem which required treatment before he persevered to reach the second round for the fourth time in four career attempts.

Fifth seed Russian Nikolay Davydenko also advanced to the second round courtesy of an easy 6-3 6-3 6-3 victory over Israel's Dudi Sela.

Davydenko was making his first appearance in a Grand Slam since his opening-round upset at Wimbledon in June, when he was defeated in straight sets by Benjamin Becker.

Davydenko followed up that disappointing performance with a pair of early exits at the ATP Masters Series events in Cincinnati and Toronto. He also was upset by Paul-Henri Mathieu in the second round of the Beijing Olympics.

But Davydenko looked outstanding against his feisty Israeli opponent.

Davydenko converted six breaks, including three in the third set, in a match that lasted two hours and three minutes.

The world number five Davydenko moved on to a second-round match with Argentina's Agustin Calleri, who defeated American Austin Krajicek in straight sets. The Russian has won all four of his previous meetings with Calleri, the world number 49.

Other seeded winners were Nicolas Almagro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Eduardo Schwank, while American Sam Warburg was the only unseeded winner from the early portion of the schedule.