Defending champion Serena Williams cruised into the second round of the US Open on Monday with a 6-0 6-1 victory over Italy’s Francesca Schiavone.
World No.1 Williams, seeking her 17th grand slam title and fifth US Open crown, needed only an hour to win for the sixth time in eight matches against the 2010 French Open champion.
“I’m really excited,” Williams said. “I knew playing a former grand slam champion the first round was a tough draw so I just tried to be super serious.”
Next up for Williams will be Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva, who ousted Romanian Monica Niculescu 6-4 6-3.
Earlier on Monday, sister Venus celebrated her 60th major with purple hair and a strong win, while Rafael Nadal took his 2013 hardcourt record to 16-0 as he swept into the second round.
Nadal, the second-seeded 2010 champion who watched last year’s Open from home during a seven-month injury layoff, breezed to a 6-4 6-2 6-2 win over American wildcard Ryan Harrison.
The 27-year-old Spaniard has captured nine trophies since his return from injury in February, building up a 54-3 record in the process, and he came into New York having won back-to-back Masters titles at Montreal and Cincinnati.
“It’s a special emotion to be back in New York. It’s a special atmosphere,” said Nadal, who next tackles Canada’s Vasek Pospisil or Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva.
“I was nervous before the start, but I hope to have these nerves again in the future if it means I win.”
Venus Williams, the 2000 and 2001 champion and oldest woman left in the draw at 33, started her 15th US Open with a 6-1 6-2 win over Belgian 12th seed Kirsten Flipkens, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon.
Williams, now ranked 60 in the world, next faces China’s Zheng Jie after avenging a loss to Flipkens at Toronto earlier this month.
“It’s just good to be here, see familiar faces since my first time in 1997 …” said Williams who dyed her hair purple for the occasion.
British qualifier Daniel Evans, the world No.179, stunned Japanese 11th seed Kei Nishikori, the biggest casualty of the opening day, 6-4 6-4 6-2.
The 23-year-old Evans had never won a grand slam main-draw match until Monday and his reward is a second-round clash with Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who needed five sets to beat Spaniard Albert Ramos.
“He had no pressure and I was tight,” said the Asian No.1. “I haven’t played well these last three weeks but I thought it was getting better.”
Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who has never gone beyond the last 16, eased past Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1 6-2 and next faces another Spaniard, Maria Teresa Torro-Flor.
Chinese fifth seed Li Na also reached the second round with a 6-2 6-2 win over Olga Govortsova of Belarus and next plays Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson.
Laura Robson, the first British woman to be seeded at a major for 26 years, won nine straight games to beat Spanish veteran Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5 6-0.
Later on Monday, Roger Federer – the five-time champion and seeded a lowly seventh this year – takes on Slovenia’s Grega Zemjla.
A year after 2003 champion Andy Roddick quit the sport, another US veteran James Blake announced his retirement on Monday.
The 33-year-old, who reached as high as world No.4 in 2006, won 10 tour titles and made the US Open quarter-finals the same year.