Nadal survives test from gutsy Golubev

Rafael Nadal overcame a spirited challenge from Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev to reach the second round of the US Open with a 6-3 7-6 (7/1) 7-5 victory in the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

A player ranked 98th in the world who recently ended an 18-match losing streak on the ATP World Tour did not sound like the most testing of opponents for the world number two, but that was doing the Kazakh a disservice.