Rafael Nadal’s power too much for Teymuraz Gabashvili in first-round win

Reporting from New York — 

Rafael Nadal came to Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing all black Tuesday night and he also came armed with a new U.S. Open game plan.

Nadal amped up his service power, hitting one at 131 mph, a big effort for the Spaniard more noted for his slices and spins and powerful work from the baseline.

And that power paid off in a decisive 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia in a first-round Open match.

The 24-year-old Spaniard who is seeded No. 1 and ranked No. 1, assessed his serve as a positive. “No one match is ever easy,” Nadal said. “My serve was working very well though.”

Nadal got a late start, about 8:30 p.m. locally, because third-seeded Novak Djokovic needed every bit of five sets to beat fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, and 14th-seeded Maria Sharapova need all of the allotted three sets to eliminate 60th-ranked Jarmila Groth 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 during the day.

And it was two minutes to midnight before the top-seeded woman, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, marched onto the court with a smile on her face and the determination to create immediate mayhem for unranked wild card entrant Chelsey Gullickson who is an NCAA champion from the University of Georgia.

Wozniacki was finished with her 6-1, 6-1 win in 61 minutes. She thanked the crowd for sticking around. “I love being back here,” said the 2009 runner-up, “especially playing the night session.”

Nadal also thanked the noisy night crowd and then explained the oomph behind his serve. “A little bit more like Wimbledon because the ball here is very soft,” Nadal said. “It is not getting a lot of topspin so I’m trying to play a little bit more flat. For that reason I am serving faster.”

At least Nadal didn’t have to deal with the stifling daytime heat that pushed temperatures on the courts to 110 and the weather almost took out Djokovic who notoriously struggles in heat.

“Look it was hot,” Djokovic said. “It was just very hot. That’s all basically I can say. You just have to try to be patient and wait for the shadows like I did.”

STAT OF THE DAY: The heat had everybody wanting to spend as little time as possible on the court. Yet in a men’s single match won by Canadian Peter Polansky, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-3, over Juan Monaco, neither player came to the net. They combined to be 0-for-0 on serve and volley points won.

UPSET OF THE DAY: After playing strong tennis most of the summer, 16th-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus lost to 32-year-old Arnaud Clement of France 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Mardy Fish, seeded 19th, has proudly modeled a 30-pounds-lighter body this summer. After he outlasted Jan Hajek, 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1, Fish was asked what he thought when he sees pictures of himself from a couple of years ago. “I’ve seen them,” he replied. “I look at Stacey [his wife] sometimes and say, ‘What’s your problem? Why didn’t somebody tell me I looked like that?’ ”

WEDNESDAY’S FEATURED MATCHES: Venus Williams hoping for a happy knee and a second-round win over Rebecca Marino of Spain on Arthur Ashe Stadium during the day, then at night Andy Roddick against Janko Tipsarevic. On Louis Armstrong Stadium, John Isner and his sprained ankle and the lingering fame from his 11 hour, five-minute Wimbledon win versus Frederico Gil.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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