Paula Badosa, the No 26 seed, defeated Swiss Viktorija Golubic 6-0, 6-3 to reach the second round of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The Spaniard continued her fine recent form, bringing to the US Open the same power and energy that has defined her resurgence over the course of the North American hard-court summer swing.
Badosa feared her career may be over after a chronic back injury side-lined her for the second half of last season. But she has shown remarkable resolve to get back to near her very best tennis, a standard that belongs among the game’s elite.
Winning the Washington Open at the start of the month was the catalyst for an excellent run of form, also reaching the semi-finals in Cincinnati before losing to the in-from Jessica Pegula.
Now, she has swept aside a potentially tricky opponent in the opening round of the US Open to kick off her campaign in style, breaking six times in total to cruise past Golubic.
Badosa, ranked No 29, will play the winner of the match between Italian Martina Trevisan and American Taylor Townsend next.
New York (Grand Slam), other first-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 75.000.000, most recent results first):
- Shelby Rogers vs. Jessica Pegula
- Bianca Andreescu vs. Jasmine Paolini
- Emma Raducanu vs. Sofia Kenin
- Mayar Sherif vs. Karolina Pliskova
- Anastasia Potapova vs. Leylah Fernandez
- Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. Elina Avanesyan
- Nadia Podoroska vs. Diana Schneider
- Qiang Wang vs. Liudmila Samsonova
- Eva Lys vs. Marie Bouzkova
- Lauren Davis vs. Anna Kalinskaya
- Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Alexa Noel
- Xinyu Wang vs. Arina Rodionova
- Yulia Putintseva vs. Linda Noskova
- Brenda Fruhvirtova vs. Varvara Lepchenko
- Anna Bondar vs. Bernarda Pera
- Anna Karolina Schmiedlova vs. Clara Tauson
- Renata Zarazua vs. Caroline Garcia
- Elena Rybakina vs. Destanee Aiava
- Jessica Bouzas Maneiro vs. Petra Martic
- Mirra Andreeva vs. Camila Osorio
- Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs. Kateryna Baindl
- Jelena Ostapenko vs. Naomi Osaka
- Caroline Wozniacki vs. Nao Hibino
- Iga Swiatek vs. Kamilla Rakhimova
- Karolina Muchova vs. Katie Volynets
- Jessika Ponchet vs. Saisai Zheng
- Katie Boulter vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich
- Cristina Bucsa vs. Sarah Errani
- Danielle Collins vs. Caroline Dolehide
- Shuai Zhang vs. Ashlyn Krueger
- Taylah Preston vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
- Daria Saville vs. Ena Shibahara
- Priscilla Hon vs. Aryna Sabalenka
- Clara Burel vs. Sloane Stephens
- Victoria Azarenka vs. Yulia Starodubtseva
- Lulu Sun vs. Lucia Bronzetti
- Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Viktoriya Tomova
- McCartney Kessler vs. Marta Kostyuk
- Ana Bogdan vs. Arantxa Rus
- Julia Grabher vs. Elena-Gabriela Ruse
- Barbora Krejcikova vs. Marina Bassols Ribera
- Magda Linette vs. Iva Jovic
- Ajla Tomljanovic vs. Ann Li
- Madison Keys vs. Katerina Siniakova
- Chloe Paquet vs. Harriet Dart
- Emma Navarro vs. Anna Blinkova
- Veronika Kudermetova vs. Elise Mertens
- Martina Trevisan vs. Taylor Townsend: monday
- Peyton Stearns vs. Lesia Tsurenko: monday
- Tamara Korpatsch vs. Moyuka Uchijima: monday
- Maya Joint vs. Laura Siegemund: monday
- Varvara Gracheva vs. Coco Gauff: Monday
- Tatjana Maria beat Solana Sierra (Q): 6-2, 6-3
- Anhelina Kalinina beat Oceane Dodin: 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
- Greet Minnen beat Magdalena Frech: 7-5, 7-5
- Erika Andreeva beat Yue Yuan: 6-3, 7-6 (7)
- Donna Vekic (24) beat Kimberly Birrell (Q): 6-4, 6-4
- Jule Niemeier beat Dayana Yastremska (32): 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4
- Qinwen Zheng (7) beat Amanda Anisimova (WC): 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
- Elina Svitolina (27) beat Maria Lourdes Carle: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
- Yafan Wang beat Maria Sakkari (9): 6-2 ret.
- Diane Parry beat Xiyu Wang: 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5)
- Daria Kasatkina (12) beat Jaqueline Cristian: 6-2, 6-4
