Rafael Nadal breezes into second round at U.S. Open

Rafael Nadal led a number of seeds who advanced to the second round in the men's draw at the U.S. Open in New York on Monday, while 13th-seeded Richard Gasquet became the first significant upset victim.

Nadal, who is the tournament's fourth seed, has 14 Grand Slam titles but has not advanced past the quarterfinals in any of the past seven Grand Slam events in which he has participated.

However, he had no trouble improving his record in U.S. Open first-round matches to 12-0 with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.

Nadal will face Italian Andreas Seppi, who advanced with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner over Frenchman Stephane Robert.

Kyle Edmund made his U.S. Open debut memorable by engineering the first upset of the tournament, eliminating Gasquet, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Edmund had 10 aces as he blew by the Frenchman.

"On ranking it's probably my best win," said Edmund, who is ranked 84th. "And the way I went about it, the way I played, a lot of things went well. ... Very encouraging the way I played, the way I handled myself, dealt with situations. I thought I was smart with the way I played when I needed to be in certain situations. (A win like this) gives you more belief, absolutely."

Seventh-seeded Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion, looked like a contender with his 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 win over Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva.

"For me it feels different," Cilic said. "I am feeling great. Conditions suit my game. I know I can play great at Grand Slams. I had a really good run at Wimbledon and coming here having won Cincinnati I feel in really, really good form. It's important to not lose that. It's a different feeling to two years ago.

"With Roger (Federer) not playing and Rafa having been a bit injured, it gives guys the impression that there is some space to move. Stan (Wawrinka) is No. 3 here, Milos (Raonic) has had a good year and Kei (Nishikori) has been playing really well the last couple of seasons. There are a lot of guys who can do really well here. It's just important to play well in the big matches."

John Isner regained his status as the top-ranked American male this week, but he was almost bounced out of the U.S. Open in the first round by an American teenager.

Despite losing the first two sets, the 20th-seeded Isner beat 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (3).

Tenth-seeded Gael Monfils of France advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Gilles Muller.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and Raonic were among those scheduled to player later Monday.