Photo favourites Eugenie Bouchard and Ana Ivanovic eased into the US Open second round on Tuesday.
Canadian seventh seed Bouchard, the Wimbledon runner-up, eased past Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-2 6-1 slamming the brakes on her post-All England Club slump which had brought her just one win coming into New York.
Bouchard is one of four Canadians in the main draw this year, the most since 1989 and is aiming to keep up her record of having made at least the semi-finals at all the majors in 2014.
Former French Open champion Ivanovic, the eighth seed, eased past Alison Riske of the United States, 6-3 6-0 in a tie which featured eight breaks of serve.
It was a performance which suggested the Serb is getting back close to her best in a year which has seen her beat Serena Williams in the Australian Open fourth round, claim three titles and return to the world’s top 10 for the first time in five years.
“Last year has been an amazing change for me. I learned a lot about myself, about my goals, who I am as a person and who I want to be,” said Ivanovic, a US Open quarter-finalist in 2012.
Australia’s Samantha Stosur, the 2011 champion, went through with a 6-1 6-4 win over Lauren Davies of the United States, firmly erasing the nightmare of her 2013 first round exit to US teenager Victoria Duval.
However, another former champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 winner was dumped out 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-3) by New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic who won her first US Open match at the fifth time of asking.
China’s Zhang Shuai can only dream of the success achieved by the likes of Williams, Ivanovic and Stosur.
The 32nd seed lost 6-1 6-2 to Germany’s Mona Barthel leaving her with a 0-12 career record at the Grand Slams.
There was a minor psychological victory for 32-year-old Italian Paolo Lorenzi whose win against Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka was his first at the Grand Slam level after 13 losses.
Later Tuesday, third seed Petra Kvitova, with a second Wimbledon title secured in July, starts against French world No.73 Kristina Mladenovic who has enjoyed her own Grand Slam success, albeit with a helping hand.
She won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2013 and this year’s French Open with Daniel Nestor.
Former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka, the runner-up to Serena Williams in the last two years, begins her campaign against Japan’s Misaki Doi.
Tuesday will also feature the youngest player in the draw, 15-year-old Catherine Bellis, the world No.1208 from California who faces Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova, the 12th seed.
