Novak Djokovic, who is the bettors' choice to win the 2015 US Open, cruised through his first round match up with João Souza in a mere 71 minutes. The current world number one and top seed in Flushing Meadows was heavily favored to win the first career encounter between the two players, who are separated by 90 places in the Emirates ATP Rankings. 

It was easy going from the start for Djokovic, who finished the match with eight aces to his opponent’s three, though Souza averaged seven miles per hour faster on the first serve and two on the second serve. The difference with the serving came down to efficiency. The Brazilian may have had the faster serve, but the Serbian won 92 percent of first serves and 62 percent of second serves, compared to 55 percent and 27 percent from the unseeded player. Accuracy was also a factor in Djokovic dominating on serve. He landed 75 percent of his first serves inside the box, 21 percent more than Souza, with 54 percent in. On top of that, the player commonly referred to as "The Djoker" had no double faults and only 7 unforced errors to 24 winners. The world number 91 had two double faults, 27 unforced errors to only 10 winners. 

The short match, played in Arthur Ashe Stadium, featured seven breaks of serve and three break points that were not converted, all from Djokovic, who kept each set to under thirty minutes. He broke twice in the 23 minute first set and twice again in the 22 minute third set. He managed three breaks in the 26 minute second set, though all three had the same final score of six games to one. The speed on the rout had many talking on twitter.

That was so quick that his shirt is probably still clean enough to wear for round two. 6-1 6-1 6-1, Novak Djokovic! pic.twitter.com/Ox5CinrEJE

— Live Tennis (@livetennis) August 31, 2015

Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times took the opportunity to show his support for equal pay for the men and women, despite the men playing best-of-five at Grand Slams, compared to best-of-three for the women. 

Novak Djokovic routs Joao Souza 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in just 71 minutes. 14 min shorter than just the third set of Brengle-Zheng. #usopen #equalpay— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 31, 2015

On a similar note, fans seem to be more eager to see if Serena Williams can complete the calendar year Grand Slam than to see the men's champion, as the women's final has sold out before the men's for the first time. It would likely be a different story had Stan Wawrinka not beaten Djokovic in the French Open final, as he might have been searching for the calendar year Grand Slam as well. 

It is his two more recent final losses that have fans of the Serbian concerned moving forward in New York City, however. The US Open top seed lost back to back Masters 1000 finals at the Rogers Cup and the Western and Sourthern Open to Andy Murray and Roger Federer respectively.

Even with those tough losses, many are still predicting that Djokovic will win his second US Open title this year, and Souza was clearly in trouble before the match even began. He was riding an eleven match losing streak and mainly plays on the ATP Challenger Tour. Given that, and the fact that he has never advanced past the first round at a Slam, even winning a set was unlikely. 

The Serb, who told the crowd that "there is something [he] love[s] about being number one, for sure," will play Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria in the second round. Haider Maurer defeated 2015 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Vasek Pospisil in five sets in his opening match.