NEW YORK (By Howard Fendrich, AP) August 30, 2006 — For all of his success on clay, Rafael Nadal clearly is much more than a surface specialist. He reached the Wimbledon final on grass last month, and now he's intent on showing he can succeed on the U.S.'s hard courts, too.

The second-seeded Nadal beat 1998 runner-up Mark Philippoussis 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday, when play got under way right as scheduled.

"The last two years, I didn't play very good here, and I want to play good," said Nadal, a two-time French Open champion but never past the third round at Flushing Meadows.

Marat Safin, the 2001 U.S. Open winner, also advanced in early action a day after there was pretty much a total washout at the year's last Grand Slam tournament. Light rain and mist through most of Tuesday made it the first day at the U.S. Open with zero matches completed since Day 1 in 1987.

Nadal began in the best way possible, winning the first eight points against Philippoussis, a two-time major finalist whose career has been sidetracked by a series of injuries. Now ranked 113th, he needed a wild card to get into the tournament.

Philippoussis still has a big serve, and he used it to pound 19 aces, but Nadal broke him three times. Nadal limited himself to 10 unforced errors, 25 fewer than Philippoussis, and saved all four break points he faced.

Safin, too, has had his injury problems, and failed to get past the second round at 13 tournaments in 2006. That's why the former No. 1 is ranked 104th, but he played more like the former for stretches while defeating Robin Vik of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Safin hit 15 aces, didn't double-fault, and was broken only once in collecting his first match victory at the U.S. Open since 2002.

"I'm still far away and looking for my best game," Safin said. "Trying to win my matches without playing well, which is the way to get confidence."

Also moving on Wednesday were No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 12 Tomas Berdych and No. 26 Olivier Rochus. Ryan Sweeting, a 19-year-old wild card from the United States, advanced when his opponent, 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria, quit during the first set with an injury.

No. 16 Ana Ivanovic, the U.S. Open Series winner, got past Vera Dushevina 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

With so many matches pushed back Tuesday, Day 3 offered the potential for quite a show.

All manner of stars were slated to play, including No. 1-seeded players Roger Federer and Amelie Mauresmo and plenty of other past major champions, including Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Mary Pierce and Anastasia Myskina.

Mauresmo and Myskina were among those who managed to get started Tuesday; they were involved in two of the nine matches suspended in progress. The bad weather also forced the U.S. Tennis Association to put off a planned remembrance of Hurricane Katrina on the one-year anniversary.

Mauresmo, who failed to win any of her first 31 Grand Slam tournaments and now has won two of the past three, resumed her watch Wednesday leading 6-1, 2-5.