NEW YORK - Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Roger Federer began his quest for a third Grand Slam title this season, defeating former French Open champion Albert Costa, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday.
Playing on an oppressively humid afternoon at the National Tennis Center, Federer came into the Open on a mission. He has never progressed beyond the round of 16 in four previous appearances at the season's final Grand Slam.
But now he is seeded No. 1, the pre-tournament favorite, and he played an efficient first-round match against Costa, who is more at home on clay than the hard courts of the Open.
Federer took 2 hours, 4 minutes to beat Costa, who had split four previous matches with the top seed.
'I lost the last two times I played him, once on clay, once on hard,' Federer said. 'He knows how to beat me.'
Not on Monday. Blasting serves as high as 129 mph, Federer delivered 11 aces to one for Costa and won easily.
Earlier, third-seeded Carlos Moya got an early scare from wild-card entry Brian Baker, dropping the first set before recovering to defeat the 19-year-old 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Equipped with the highest Grand Slam ranking of his career, Moya came into the Open off a strong season. He reached the quarterfinals at Cincinnati and at the Olympics, losing to the eventual champion both times. So Baker, making just his second appearance in this event, seemed to be an easy first-round draw.
But the teen-ager got an early lead in the opening set and then won the tiebreak, even after losing a lead.
After that, however, Moya established control. He ripped 24 aces and 66 winners in the match that stretched 3 hours, 7 minutes.
Second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo defeated American Marissa Irvin 6-4, 6-2 in the opening match of the tournament.
Mauresmo, the silver medalist at the Athens Olympics, waited out a 20-minute rain delay at the start and then wore down Irvin methodically. She hit 18 winners and had seven aces, six in the second set.
A semifinalist or better in eight of 12 tour events this year, including Wimbledon, Mauresmo overcame four double faults and won 77 percent of her first-serve points. She converted all four of her break-point opportunities and finished the match in 1 hour, 13 minutes.
The high seed does not disturb Mauresmo, who has never won a Grand Slam.
'I don't feel the pressure of being No. 2 or No. 3 seed or whatever,' she said. 'My goal is still the same coming here as it was going to Wimbledon or the other Grand Slams. I want to go to the end and try to get that trophy.
'My serve was pretty good today. I felt very comfortable on that side of the game. The rest, I think I made too many errors and let her come back into that first set where I shouldn't have.
'You know, it's the first rounds, never easy. I guess I have a few things to adjust in my game. But overall, you know, a good start of the tournament.'
Mauresmo is one of three players in the field who could overtake Justine Henin-Hardenne for No. 1 in the rankings based on results at the Open. The others are Lindsay Davenport, perhaps the hottest player in the field with four straight hard-court tournament victories, and Anastasia Myskina, the French Open champion.
In other early matches, former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez lost to No. 31 seed Maria Vento-Kabchi 0-6, 6-2, 6-3; Ai Sugiyama, seeded No. 12, took advantage of 38 unforced errors and defeated Teryn Ashley 7-5, 6-2; Gisela Dulko defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6 (3), 6-3; and Julia Vakulenko defeated two-time NCAA champion Amber Liu 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Cyril Saulnier outlasted Greg Rusedski 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7) in a match that lasted 2 hours, 55 minutes. Alicia Molik, seeded No. 17, ousted Stephaniue Cohen-Aloro 6-0, 6-2.
Monday's other featured day matches included eighth-seeded Jennifer Capriati against Denisa Chladkova.
Athens silver medalist Mardy Fish, seeded No. 26, was scheduled to face David Ferrer, and veteran Todd Martin was to face No. 31 Fabrice Santoro.
The evening program, faced with a forecast of heavy rain, had some of the tournament's headliners with former champions Serena Williams and Andre Agassi on the program.
Williams, seeded No. 3, was scheduled to face Sandra Kleinova, and Agassi, the No. 6 seed was to play Robby Ginepri.