The US Open began on Monday as the top half of the women's draw was in action with top seed Karolina Pliskova, fourth seed Naomi Osaka and sixth seed Petra Kvitova among the 32 winners advancing to the second round.
It was a mixed day for American women as they went 7-9 with 13th seed Alison Riske, 28th seed Jennifer Brady, Catherine Bellis, Jessica Pegula and Ann Li among those moving on. Usue Maitane Arconada, Allie Kiick and Caroline Dolehide were among the nine eliminated.
Pliskova, Kvitova cruise; Osaka pushed by Doi
Pliskova overcame a slow start to top Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 6-0. The Czech was broken in the first game of the match, but soon recovered to take a 4-1 lead only to see the Ukrainian rally back to draw level at 4-4 before the top seed streaked to the finish, winning the final eight games to reach round two.
"I think this match, especially the first set, was in a couple periods", she said via video conference. "I think I started not really great with the first game, but after, I was able to somehow, like step in the court, was playing quite aggressive, so I was doing a lot of points.
"I felt better than in my match previous, last week, what I have played on Court 17. I think the center court is better place to play no matter [if] it's still without people, but I just felt somehow a little better. I had a lot of practices on this court, so I just felt quite used to it.
"And also, just to play without people, I think that even I just had one match without people [last week], but I thought it quite help me just to know how it feels."
Osaka closed play on Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win over countrywoman Misaki Doi. The 2018 broke twice in a dominant first set only to see Doi gained an early break to go ahead 2-0 only to see her lead evaporate, but she broke at the end of the set down 40-15 to force a third.
The two-time major broke in the third game of the deciding set and never looked back, breaking a second time in the seventh game after the world number 81 missed a backhand and held to 15 to close out a tougher than expected opening-round victory.
"It was very difficult", she said in her on-court interview after the match. "I kind of expected it because of the first round nerves, and she's also a very tough opponent. I knew there was a chance it would get really long. I just have to see what happens tomorrow and how I feel."
Kvitová blasted past Irina-Camelia Begu, winning 6-3, 6-2 in just 65 minutes to improve her record to 5-0 against the Romanian. The sixth seed broke twice in each set and hit 23 winners to reach round two.
Martic, Rybakina, Vondrousova, Kerber also victorious
Eighth seed Petra Martic barely escaped against Tereza Martincova, defeating the Czech 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 while 11th seed Elena Rybakina had a much easier time, beating Katarina Zavatska 6-3, 6-0. 12th seed Marketa Vondrousova blew away Greet Minnen 6-1, 6-3 and 17th seed Angelique Kerber got by Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4.
19th seed Dayana Yastremska got by Astra Sharma 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2) while 24th seed Magda Linette also needed three sets to knock out Maddison Inglis 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. 32nd seed Rebecca Peterson was upset by Kirsten Flipkens 7-6 (1), 6-4.
Riske, Brady, Bellis lead American victors; Gauff knocked out by Sevastova
13th seed Riske had little problems with Tatjana Maria, breezing past the German 6-3, 6-2 and will face Li, who recorded a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 over Arantxa Rus. Another all-American second round match will see 28th seed Brady, who eased past Anna Blinkova 6-3, 6-2, face Bellis, a 6-7 (13), 6-3, 6-2 winner over Tamara Korpatsch.
Shelby Rogers is also into round two with 6-2, 6-2 win over Irina Khromacheva. Madison Brengle won by the same scoreline against alternate Arina Rodionova while Jessica Pegula escaped against Marie Bouzkova with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory.
Coco Gauff came up short against 31st seed Anastasija Sevastova with the Latvian coming out on top 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Also eliminated were Francesca Di Lorenzo 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0 by Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Caroline Dolehide, blown away 6-2, 6-2 by Anna-Lena Friedsam and Danielle Collins, beaten by 14th seed Anett Kontaveit 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
Four young Americans also fell as Whitney Osuigwe lost to Kateryna Kozlova 6-3, 7-5, Usue Maitane Arconada falling to Kaja Juvan 6-4, 7-6 (3), 15-year old Robin Montgomery, blown out by 23rd seed Yulia Putintseva and 16-year old Hailey Baptiste, who put up a better fight against 30th seed Kristina Mladenovic before ultimately losing 7-5, 6-2.
Rest of the scores
The remaining results saw Caroline Garcia dispatch Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 to set up a second round clash with Pliskova, Vera Lapko rallying past Viktorija Golubic 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, Varvara Gracheva getting past Paula Badosa 6-4, 7-5, Camila Giorgi knocking off Alison Van Uytvanck 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, Marta Kostyuk routing Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-2 and Danka Kovinic beating Lizette Cabrera 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.