Nishikori wins Open opener

Flushing Meadows, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - No. 10 seed Kei Nishikori was an easy first-round winner on Day 2 at the U.S. Open.

The Japanese star stifled American journeyman Wayne Odesnik 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in just over two hours on the hardcourts at the National Tennis Center.

Nishikori, who became the first-ever Japanese player to crack the Top 10 earlier this year, missed the U.S. Open tune-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati because of a toe injury.

Odesnik received a wild card into the Open, his first appearance here in five years, after serving a year-long ban for getting caught with human growth hormone.

Meanwhile, 15th-seeded fiery Italian Fabio Fognini foiled Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

In other play involving seeds, No. 25 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic fired 24 aces in beating Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 and No. 28 Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez topped Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.