Flushing Meadows, NY (My Sportsbook) - Former runner-up Novak Djokovic was an easy first-round winner Tuesday at the U.S. Open, the final Grand Slam event of the year.

The fourth-seeded Djokovic drubbed former world No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in 1 hour, 37 minutes at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center.

The 2008 Australian Open champion Djokovic, currently coached by former American star Todd Martin, was the 2007 U.S. Open runner-up to the great Roger Federer. Martin was the 1999 U.S. Open runner-up to the legendary Andre Agassi.

Former Aussie Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga eased into the second round with a 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 tattooing of 18-yeard-old American Chase Buchanan, while 10th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco vaulted past German Benjamin Becker 7-5, 6-4, 7-5. The seventh-seeded Tsonga, of France, lost to Djokovic in last year's Aussie Open finale.

Meanwhile, 16th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic got past American Ryan Sweeting 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4, 17th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych doused American Wayne Odesnik 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 and 30th-seeded Serb Viktor Troicki outlasted Aussie Peter Luczak 6-3, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-1.

An American pulled off a surprising upset on Day 2 of the fortnight, as 26- year-old Jesse Witten stunned 29th-seeded Russian slugger Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.

Additional opening-round wins came for Finn Jarkko Nieminen, Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Federico Zeballos, Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, and Frenchmen Julien Benneteau Josselin Ouanna.

The first round will conclude here on Wednesday, including matches for third- seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal, sixth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro and former world No. 1 Marat Safin of Russia. Nadal will encounter Frenchman Richard Gasquet, while del Potro will meet fellow Argentine Juan Monaco and an unseeded Safin, playing in his final U.S. Open, will face Austrian lefthander Jurgen Melzer.

The former top-ranked Nadal is the reigning Aussie Open champion and owns six major titles. The two-time major titlist Safin captured the U.S. Open in 2000.

The 2009 U.S. Open champ will collect at least $1.6 million.