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Maria Sharapova continued her comeback from shoulder surgery with an impressive opening win over Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in New York.
The 2006 champion from Russia adopted a new service motion following the injury to her right shoulder and made just four double faults as she romped to a 6-3, 6-0 victory.
She said: "I played a very tricky opponent who didn't give me much room and I'm also coming from a pretty slow court in Toronto, so it was just about adjusting.
"I had a little bit of a slow start, made a few easy errors but I just got in the groove and was able to close it out. This is a grand slam and you've got to get going in your first match. This is what it's all about."
Dinara Safina is hoping the major scare she received in her first match of the US Open can be more beneficial in her bid for a first grand slam title than her almost perfect run to this year's French Open final.
World No1 Safina (right) had to come from a set down against Olivia Rogowska to carve out a 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4 victory against the unseeded Australian in two hours and 35 minutes.
The Russian was relieved to get past the world No167, having played so poorly in an error-strewn first. Once she did find her rhythm, Safina got back into the game although there were still more scares on the way to victory as Rogowska took a 3-0 lead in the final set.
Having cruised into the final at Roland Garros in June only to be beaten by fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, Safina is hoping a tough opener will bring her a better chance of landing a major title.
She said: "That was a very tough one. I made it tough. I made it into the second round and that's a positive thing. I would take it like this. In the French Open I won all the matches 6-1, 6-0. Did it help? Not really."
Elena Dementieva, of Russia, set up a second-round clash against American Melanie Oudin with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over France's Camille Pin.
In the same quarter of the draw as Safina, fifth seed Jelena Jankovic overcame an erratic start to clinch a 6-2, 6-3 over unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci to reach round two.
Eleventh seed Ana Ivanovic, of Serbia, was made to fight all the way as she secured a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 win over Ukraine's Kateryna Bonderova.
There were no such problems for French Open champion Kuznetsova, who defeated Germany's Julia Goerges 6-3, 6-2. The sixth-seeded Russian will be joined in the second round by potential fourth-round opponents Caroline Wozniacki, Nadia Petrova and Sorana Cirstea.
