Milos Raonic blasts past Taro Daniel in US Open first round

Milos Raonic put in a dominant display to beat Taro Daniel 6-3 6-2 7-6(1) in the first round of the US Open.

The big-serving Canadian did not drop a point in his first four service games and then broke in the eighth on his way to claiming the opening set in only 27 minutes.

Raonic, who is seeded fifth for the final Grand Slam of the year, had only surrendered two points on serve before he saved two break points to close out the second set at the end of what had been an effortless first hour of the contest.

World number 186 Daniel proved a more difficult obstacle to overcome in the third, and broke out of nowhere to cancel out the service game that he had conceded to the world number six only moments earlier.

With the scores now at 5-5, serves were exchanged as the Japanese forced Raonic to complete his victory via a tie-break in which one of the well-fancied outsiders for Flushing Meadows success dropped only one point.

Raonic has reached the fourth round of the American major in both of the last two years.