Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves to Joao Souza of Brazil during their match at the U.S. Open Championships tennis tournament in New York, August 31, 2015. REUTERS/Adrees Latif REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Top seed Novak Djokovic reached the second round of the 2015 US Open following his fiery straight-sets victory over Brazilian Joao Souza 6-1 6-1 6-1 on day one at Flushing Meadows. Djokovic will continue his quest to win his third major trophy this season against Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer, who overcame Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 6-4 3-6 6-7 6-0 6-1 in the opening round.

The upcoming match will be the second time that Djokovic and Haider-Maurer will clash on tour. The sensational Serb beat the 52nd-ranked Haider-Maurer in their lone meeting this year that took place at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo.

Djokovic, the 2011 US Open champion, is 20-1 in grand slam tournaments. His only loss came against Stan Wawrinka, who denied him his first Roland Garros title 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 in June. Djokovic is looking to rebound from recent final losses in his US Open lead-up tournaments at Rogers Cup (lost to Andy Murray 6-4 4-6 6-3) and Western & Southern Open (lost to Roger Federer 7-6 6-3).

The World No. 1 reached the last four at Flushing Meadows, but was stunned by Kei Nishikori in the semifinal 6-4 1-6 7-6 6-3. Nishikori, seeded fourth this year, suffered an early elimination after losing to unseeded Benoit Paire of France 6-4 3-6 4-6 7-6 6-4 in the first round.

Meanwhile, Haider-Maurer is coming off from winning his seventh ATP Challenger Tour title at Meerbusch. The 28-year-old is making his fifth US Open appearance, his 14th grand slam appearance. At the US Open, Haider-Maurer is 1-4. He reached the second round of the 2013 US Open, but was beaten by Mikhail Kukushnin 6-4 6-4 7-6.

This season, Haider-Maurer made it in the second round of the 2015 Australian Open (lost to John Isner 6-4 7-6 4-6 6-4). He suffered first-round exits at Roland Garros (to Diego Schwartzman 6-3 5-7 6-3 7-6) and Wimbledon (to Ricarda Berankis 6-2 5-2).

Haider-Maurer trails in his ATP head-to-head series against Djokovic 1-0. Their second round match takes place at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sept. 2 (EDT).

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