Nadal shaky, Djokovic sharp at U.S. Open

Tennis: Rafael Nadal’s first match as defending U.S. Open champion Tuesday was hardly a tour de force.

His serve was broken six times; that happened a total of five times in seven matches during his 2010 run to the title at Flushing Meadows.

His shots didn’t have their normal depth. He needed to save seven set points during the second set.

Locked in a struggle for nearly three hours, the second-seeded Nadal eventually got past 98th-ranked Andrey Golubev 6-3, 7-6 (1), 7-5 to reach the second round of the U.S. Open.

“Well,” Nadal conceded, “I was a little bit lucky to win today in straight sets.”

Nadal expended a lot more energy than Novak Djokovic, who overtook the Spaniard at No. 1 in the rankings last month.

Indeed, it didn’t take too long to see that Djokovic’s right shoulder is feeling fine. He began his first-round match with a 121 mph service winner. Four points later, he closed that game with a 120 mph ace. He whipped forehands exactly where he wanted them. He returned well, too.

Playing his first match since Aug. 21, when he quit because of a sore and tired shoulder, the top-seeded Djokovic began setting aside any questions about his fitness, building a 6-0, 5-1 lead before qualifier Conor Niland of Ireland stopped after 44 minutes. Niland had food poisoning.

“Great opening performance,” Djokovic declared. “Today I didn’t feel any pain. I served well, and I played well, so I have no concern.”

While Djokovic had no problems, and Nadal overcame his, Day 2 of the tournament included a second consecutive first-round departure from the U.S. Open by the sixth-seeded French Open champion Li Na. Since winning Paris in June, Li has gone 5-6, exiting in the second round at Wimbledon, then losing 6-2, 7-5 to 53rd-ranked Simona Halep of Romania on Tuesday.

Serena Williams moved to the second round of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Bojana Jovanovski in her first singles match at Flushing Meadows since her ugly exit in 2009.

The 28th-seeded Williams was greeted warmly by the New York crowd when she walked on the court, a far cry from the scene in the ’09 semifinal, when she was disqualified for her profanity-laced, racket-brandishing tirade at a line judge after a foot-fault call.

Williams, who missed last year after cutting her foot on a piece of glass at a restaurant in Germany, is seeking her fourth U.S. Open title.

Police: Crittenton avenging robbery

NBA: A former NBA player who is accused of shooting an Atlanta woman to death appeared to be retaliating for being robbed of $55,000 worth of jewelry, police said.

Javaris Crittenton, who was suspended from the NBA along with his ex-teammate Gilbert Arenas for having guns in a locker room, was arrested late Monday at a Southern California airport. He has been charged with murder in the Aug. 19 shooting death of Jullian Jones outside her house in Atlanta, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Crittenton told police he and a friend were leaving a barbershop about 10:50 p.m. on April 21 when two teenagers surprised them as they returned to their car, according to a police report, and robbed him at gunpoint.

Los Angeles County prosecutors expect to charge Crittenton today with being a fugitive from justice and he may be arraigned later that day. An Atlanta Police spokeswoman said the timetable for Crittenton’s return depends on whether he waives extradition.

Authorities have said they don’t believe Jones was the intended target, but they haven’t said who they think the gunman was after.

• Adelman visits T-Wolves again: Rick Adelman is back in Minnesota to meet with the Timberwolves again, the second time this month that he has traveled from his home in Oregon to talk about the team’s vacant head coaching position.

Adelman arrived in the Twin Cities to meet with owner Glen Taylor and other Timberwolves officials, a person with knowledge of the discussions told the Associated Press. But he left without a deal to become the head coach.

Adelman also traveled to Minnesota on Aug. 23 to talk about replacing the fired Kurt Rambis.

James edges Merritt for gold in 400m

Miscellany: Grenada’s Kirani James leaned across the line to edge American LaShawn Merritt and win the gold medal in the 400 meters at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, upstaging the reigning titleholder, who had to grab the back of the teenager’s jersey to prevent himself from falling.

The only real surprise of the night came when pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia failed to win a medal in her third straight global championship. That’s after a run of seven titles in a row spanning the Olympics along with world outdoor and indoor competitions. That allowed Fabiana Murer to win the gold.

Other winners included Robert Harting of Germany (discus), Yuliya Zaripova of Russia (steeplechase), Tatyana Chernova of Russia (heptathlon) and David Rudisha of Kenya (800).

Washington State’s Jeshua Anderson, the reigning U.S. champion, finished 12th in the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles. He didn’t advance.

• Two Oklahoma State players ineligible for opener: Starting free safety Johnny Thomas and receiver Michael Harrison have been ruled ineligible for No. 9 Oklahoma State’s season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Coach Mike Gundy announced the Cowboys don’t have a timetable for when Thomas and Harrison would be able to return. Other details were not disclosed.

• Flyer extend van Riemsdyk: The Philadelphia Flyers signed James van Riemsdyk to a six-year contract extension.

He had 21 goals and 40 points last year with the Flyers, then scored seven goals in 11 playoff games.