Eight time major champion Rafael Nadal opened his title campaign in New York with a hard earned win over little known Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili and entered the second round of the 2010 US Open, the season's last Grand Slam event being played here in Flushing Meadows, New York.

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Nadal opened the match under tight competition and failed to secure a break even after repetitive opportunities presented to him by Gabashvili. As the first set went into the tie-break, Nadal stepped on the accelerator and got a quick mini break to pocket the set by 7 points to 4.

The second set opened on a similar note when Gabashvili took advantage of Nadal's erratic play, and came up with some memorable shots of his own to once again challenge the Spaniard's will and determination by pushing the set into a tie-break. Nadal made no mistakes this time around as well and clinched the set with an identical scoreline (7-4).

The third set brought a much needed break, luckily in Nadal's favour who then took the matters into his own hands and completed the 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-3 win in two hours and 57 minutes of play.

Nadal hit 30 winners to Gabashvili's 49, but took full advantage of the Russian's 38 unforced errors to complete the crucial victory.

Earlier in the day, third seed and 2007 finalist Novak Djokovic survived a marathon struggle against compatriot Viktor Troicki to secure win with a 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 scoreline.

In-form American Mardy Fish also overcame a spirited performance by Czech Jan Hajek to move to the next round. His unusual 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win came after two hours and 36 minutes of nail-biting tennis.

Other winners of the day included Fernando Verdasco, David Nalbandian, David Ferrer, Florent Serra, Julien Benneteau, James Blake, Denis Istomin and Arnaud Clement who caused the biggest upset of the day by eliminating the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in five sets.