Kerber makes short work of ailing Hercog

NEW YORK — Second-seeded German Angelique Kerber made a definitive start to her US Open campaign Monday, reaching the second round when Polona Hercog retired without winning a game. Kerber, who toppled Serena Williams to lift the Australian Open crown in January and fell to the American in the Wimbledon final, was leading 6-0, 1-0 when 120th-ranked Hercog of Slovenia called it quits in the sultry heat of Flushing Meadows' Arthur Ashe stadium court. Kerber, who could topple Williams from atop the world rankings in the final Grand Slam of the season, next faces either France's Alize Cornet or Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The 13th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet was upended 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 by Britain's world No. 84 Kyle Edmund. Gasquet, who has reached the last 16 at Flushing Meadows four times in his career, was outplayed throughout and his US Open experience lasted just one hour, 41 minutes. The 21-year-old Edmund, who helped Britain win the Davis Cup last year, crunched 10 aces and 40 winners in all en route to the biggest victory of his career. Edmund will play Lukas Lacko of Slovakia or American wildcard Ernesto Escobedo in the second round. Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champ, is through to the second round with a straight-set win. The seventh-seeded Cilic beat 108th-ranked Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 despite posting more unforced errors than winners (24-23). Cilic is coming off his first Masters title, beating Andy Murray in the final at Cincinnati. Cagla Buyukakcay was the first player to punch a second-round ticket as the US Open tennis championships got underway, with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Irina Falconi. Turkey's Buyukakcay, ranked 66th in the world, needed just 59 minutes to get past America's Falconi and set up a second-round meeting with either two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, the 14th seed, or Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko. The woman who stunned Serena Williams at last year's US Open en route to the final, Roberta Vinci of Italy, also won the first match in the tournament's refurbished Arthur Ashe Stadium. Vinci, who is seeded No. 7, overcame some second-set jitters to beat 46th-ranked Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-2, 6-4. The temperature hit 90 degrees Monday, but the new retractable roof atop Ashe provided some shade for spectators — and, on one side of the court, players. — Agencies