Maria Sharapova has passed the first major test of her comeback from a doping suspension, holding her nerve to defeat second seed Simona Halep in three sets to send a tournament favourite crashing out on the first day.
When the draw was unveiled on Saturday morning (AEST), it revealed a massive first round clash between Sharapova, the 2006 champion, and Halep, the world number two.
From the outside looking in, you’d think that it was the Russian who would have it tough, but from the inside looking out it was actually Halep for whom it was tough.
Sharapova had won all six of her previous meetings against Halep, including in the final of the 2014 French Open, which is regarded as one of the best finals in recent history.
Both women exchanged breaks in the opening set before the Russian, now ranked 148th in the world, took it 6-4.
The 30-year-old then scooted out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, but Halep claimed the next five games on the bounce to take the second set 6-4 and force a one-set shootout.
In the end, Sharapova, appearing in her 50th major tournament but first since last year’s Australian Open, took the final set 6-3 to extend her record in major first round matches to 47-3 (last loss: 2010 Australian Open) and 11-0 in New York.
While the Russian now goes on to face Timea Babos in the second round, Halep will drop a significant amount of rankings points post-tournament and her latest chance of becoming world number one will once again go to waste.
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The 25-year-old joined Johanna Konta at the departure gate, after the Brit was stunned in her opening match by Serb Aleksandra Krunic in three sets.
Last year’s quarter-finalist, Ana Konjuh, was also sent packing as she was beaten in three sets by Australian Ashleigh Barty, who has impressed in her first full season back on the tennis circuit after a short stint in cricket.
Barty’s compatriots Arina Rodionova and Ajla Tomljanovic progressed with straight-sets wins over Richel Hogenkamp and Johanna Larsson respectively.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, seven-time major champion Venus Williams, and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki all advanced.
Muguruza showed her opponent, Varvara Lepchenko, absolutely no mercy as she won in straight sets. Of the six women who remain in contention for the world number one ranking, the Spaniard is in the best position, as she has yet to advance past the second round at Flushing Meadows.
Not only did she perform so impressively at Wimbledon, where she defeated Venus Williams in the final, she also won the all-important lead-in tournament at Cincinnati, thrashing Halep in straight sets in the final.
The 23-year-old only needs to reach the fourth round, and outperform her rivals, to ascend to the top of the rankings post-tournament. She next faces Duan Yingying and remains on track to face 13th seed Petra Kvitova in the round of 16.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova emerged from a potentially tricky first round tie against Jelena Jankovic to defeat the former world number one, and 2008 finalist, in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5.
Venus also preserved her undefeated record in first round matches at Flushing Meadows, defeating Slovakian qualifier Viktoria Kuzmova in three sets. The 37-year-old next faces Oceane Dodin in the second round, with Wozniacki potentially looming as her fourth round opponent.
Fifth seed Wozniacki made light work of qualifier Mihaela Buzarnescu, winning in straight sets to set up a second round clash against former semi-finalist Ekaterina Makarova, a straight-sets winner over Mona Barthel.
Local favourite Sloane Stephens also progressed, defeating 2015 finalist Roberta Vinci in straight sets and earning herself a second round date with 11th seed Dominika Cibulkova, a three-set winner over Jana Cepelova.
Kyodo
In the men’s draw, fifth seed Marin Cilic, who took Andy Murray’s place at the bottom of the draw after the 2012 champion withdrew due to a hip injury, needed four sets to defeat Tennys Sandgren in his first match.
He was joined in the second round by eighth-seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a straight-sets winner over Marcus Copil, as well as local favourites Sam Querrey and John Isner, winners over Gilles Simon and Pierre-Hugues Herbert respectively.
13th seed Jack Sock, however, became the first major casualty of the men’s draw after he was upset in five sets by Australian Jordan Thompson, who came from a break down in the deciding set to emerge victorious.
Two more Australians, Bernard Tomic and Thanasi Kokkinakis, both bowed out in contrasting circumstances.
Kokkinakis claimed the first two sets of his match against two-time quarter-finalist Janko Tipsarevic, but capitulated to lose in five sets, while Tomic blew a good start to his match against Gilles Muller, going down in four.
The latter now faces the prospect of having to qualify for the Australian Open next January, unless Tennis Australia officials relent and award him a wildcard, which appears unlikely given his current state of affairs.
21st seed David Ferrer bowed out with a four-set defeat to qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin.
The second day of play is headlined by both world number ones, Rafael Nadal and Karolina Pliskova, as well as five-time champion Roger Federer and an all-Australian showdown between John Millman and Nick Kyrgios.
Matches to watch on Day 2
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Day session – play starts 11:00am (Wednesday 1:00am AEST)
[1] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) versus Magda Linnette (POL)
Not before 1:00pm (3:00am AEST)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) versus [6] Angelique Kerber (GER)
[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) versus Dusan Lajovic (SRB)
Night session – play starts 7:00pm (9:00am AEST)
Elise Mertens (BEL) versus [15] Madison Keys (USA)
[3] Roger Federer (SUI) versus Frances Tiafoe (USA)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Play starts 11:00am (1:00am AEST)
[4] Elina Svitolina (UKR) versus Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Henri Laaksonen (SUI) versus [24] Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)
Alison Riske (USA) versus [20] Coco Vandeweghe (USA)
Not before 5:00pm (7:00am AEST)
John Millman (AUS) versus [14] Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
Grandstand
Play starts 11:00am (1:00am AEST)
Alex de Minaur (AUS) versus [6] Dominic Thiem (AUT)
Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) versus Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) versus [8] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
Vaclav Safranek (CZE) versus [7] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
Court 17
Play starts 11:00am (1:00am AEST)
[12] Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) versus Lara Arruabarrena (ESP)
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) versus [18] Gael Monfils (FRA)
Ryan Harrison (USA) versus [15] Tomas Berdych (CZE)
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