Iga Swiatek has crushed Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-0 to set up a highly anticipated second-round showdown with 2017 champion Sloane Stephens at the US Open.
Appearing at New York for the first time as the world's top-ranked player, Swiatek looked the part, breaking Paolini's serve seven times and reeling off the last seven games to advance.
The Polish top seed is the favourite to win the year's final Grand Slam, after she dominated the French Open in June and went on a 37-match winning streak that was snapped in the third round of Wimbledon.
But her sheen of invincibility began to crack at US Open tune-up events, where she went 4-4 in her last eight matches, before putting the field on notice with her complete game on a hot and humid morning at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
"I'm pretty happy with the performance, and I feel like I have better rhythm than in Toronto and Cincinnati, so that's great," said Swiatek. "I'm trying to enjoy that.
"In the first set, I played pretty solid, but I needed to take it up to another level. I did that at the end and in second set, so I'm pretty proud of that.
"I feel like my level is just better. We'll see if I'm going to hold on to that."
She will likely face a more difficult challenge in the next round, when she runs into Stephens, who battled back to see off Belgium's Greet Minnen 1-6 6-3 6-3 to the delight of the New York fans.
"I was just fighting as hard as I can and with your guys support, you pushed me through, so thank you," she said.
"Happy to get another win at my favourite tournament."
Meanwhile, Frenchwoman Clara Burel has joined the growing list of giant-killing qualifiers at this year's tournament, toppling Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-4 6-4 in the first round.
Hot on the heels of Ukrainian Daria Snigur's win over twice Grand Slam winner Simona Halep and Colombian Daniel Galan's triumph over fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 131st-ranked Burel produced an assured display to eliminate Rybakina.
Kazakhstan's Rybakina squandered six of the seven breakpoints in the first set, as she racked up 19 unforced errors.
Former junior No.1 Burel capitalised on her chances to break in the fifth and ninth games.
Burel broke the Russian-born Rybakina in the opening game of the second set and won more than three-quarters of her first-serve points under hot and humid conditions on day two of the hardcourt major.
She thrust her fists in the air, after clinching victory with a backhand winner.
Reuters
