New-look Nadal in good shape

"There is more than one path to success," declared Rafa Nadal after his comfortable first round 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Ryan Harrison at the US Open. On his return to the Arthur Ashe Stadium after missing last year's tournament through injury, Nadal is a renewed player. The world number two has historically prepared for the final Grand Slam of the season by building up to it slowly, stating that in 2008 he arrived in New York "mentally burned out."

This year, Nadal has played just 57 games and has won the last two Masters tournaments on hard courts, a surface on which he has a 16-0 record in 2013.

The Spaniard scored his only US Open title in 2010 with a supersonic serve, giving up just five service games throughout the two weeks, a tournament record. But he has now partially renounced that aspect of his armory.

"I have always had the theory that the most important thing is to be happy, enjoy what you do, and to be mentally fresh [...] Not every player who has been successful plays the same way or does the same things. In 2010 I won here but played pretty badly in Toronto and Cincinnati. In 2011 it was the same, I played badly before [the US Open] and came here and lost in the final. Was I burned out? If I lose here, it won't be because I'm not mentally fresh, as might have been the issue in 2008, when I arrived here very tired," Nadal said of the 10 games he has played on the US hard court circuit leading up to Flushing Meadows, compared to Novak Djokovic's seven, Andy Murray's five and Roger Federer's four.

If I lose here it won't be because I'm not mentally fresh, like in 2008"

Nadal, who awaits the winner of the rain-delayed match between Rogerio Dutra Silva and Vasek Pospisil in round two, is for the first time the clear favorite at a Grand Slam on hard courts. He has his eyes on regaining the number one spot. To arrive at this situation he has not had to seek out his 2010 serve, which sometimes reached almost 220km/h.

"After many years of trying out many things with the serve, improving it and trying to get faster, we have come to the conclusion that I don't necessarily need to serve like I did before to play well. If it happens, then great, but the chances of that are very small and the possibility that it would destabilize the rest of my game very big," said Nadal, who has started playing further inside the court, taking shots earlier and more aggressively.

"It's not all about serving big. There are other ways."

While Nadal waits for his next opponent to emerge, New York is watching the skies. Rain stopped play on Monday and the forecast for the next few days is not encouraging. Before the heavens opened on the first day, fourth seed David Ferrer beat Nick Kyrgios 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 to join Nadal in round two and will next play fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

Albert Ramos and Fernando Verdasco were both defeated in five sets, the former by Australia's Bernard Tomic and the latter by Ivan Dodig. Tommy Robredo beat Marinko Matosevic in four to set up a meeting with Canadian Frank Dancevic, who dispatched the experienced Robin Haase.

Early Tuesday, Pablo Andújar moved into the second round with a straight sets win over Thiemo de Bakker.