Spoiler Djokovic shrugs off ankle scare

By Simon Cambers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic shrugged off an injury scare to reach the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday and then said he would have no problems being the party-pooper at this year's event.

The Australian Open champion, runner-up to Roger Federer in New York last year, beat Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-3 6-3 6-4 in his opening match.

An ankle scare early in the third set proved to be less serious than initially feared by the Serb.

"It's okay," Djokovic told reporters after setting up a second-round encounter with American wildcard Robert Kendrick.

"It's going to be good in two days, I'm sure. I was thinking more of it than I was really actually feeling the pain, so it's not really a big deal.

"In that certain moment, I felt big pain so I just had to tape the ankle. But it's going to be all right."

Having won his first grand-slam title in January, Djokovic is one of the favourites to end Federer's bid for a fifth consecutive U.S. Open title and Rafael Nadal's attempt at his first.

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