Serena Williams trounced old foe Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-1 in their blockbuster first round clash at the US Open to get her quest for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title off to a flying start.
In her first US Open match since her infamous row with the chair umpire overshadowed her loss in last year's final, Williams used her trademark power to overwhelm Sharapova in the first New York meeting between two of the sport's biggest names.
Eighth seed Williams showed no signs of the back spasms that forced her to retire in tears from the Toronto final two weeks ago, instead showcasing some of her best on-court movement since returning from maternity leave in 2018.
Williams, who last faced Sharapova at the 2016 Australian Open, improved to 20-2 in career meetings against the Russian, who has fallen to 87th in the rankings, amid an injury-hit 2019 season that included shoulder surgery in February.
Next up for Williams will be American wildcard Catherine McNally, who beat Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-4 6-1.
Joining Serena in the next round is 39-year-old older sister Venus, who beat Saisai Zheng 6-1 6-0 to remain undefeated in first-round matches in a record-tying 21st appearance at her home Grand Slam.
The 2000 and 2001 winner Williams will next meet fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina, after the lopsided affair in which she fired 25 winners to Zheng's six.
Former world No.1 crashes out
Former champion Angelique Kerber has crashed out of this year's tournament in the first round, losing 7-5 0-6 6-4 to Kristina Mladenovic.
The 14th-seed lost in 2h 24m on the Grandstand court in New York.
The three-time Grand Slam champion and former world No.1 is having a poor 2019, and she is also currently without a coach.
The German reached the last 16 at the Australian Open in January, but then crashed out in the first round at the French Open and second round at Wimbledon.
The latest disaster came after first-round defeats in Toronto and Cincinnati.
German women's tennis head Barbara Rittner and national icon Boris Becker agreed on Eurosport that coming to New York without a coach, after parting ways with Rainer Schuettler after Wimbledon, was a massive mistake.
"She wouldn't have lost the match with a coach," Rittner insisted.
And Becker said: "I cannot understand that she played here without a coach. All top-10 players have a coach at their side."
Kerber would have none of it though.
"I won't be pressured by anyone," she insisted, also saying "I don't know yet" when asked whether she will get a new coach.
"The key to defeat was not that I have no coach."
Another to tumble was No.27 seed Caroline Garcia, who bowed out with a 7-6 (10-8) 6-2 loss to Tunisia's Ons Jabeur.
Women's third seed and former finalist Karolina Pliskova dropped her first three service games and blew a double break 3-0 lead in the second, before prevailing 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) in a tight first-round duel against 138th-ranked fellow Czech Tereza Martincova.
Eugenie Bouchard, a former Wimbledon finalist and top-10 player, lost her 11th straight tour match to last year's semi-finalist Anastasija Sevastova 6-3 6-3.
And former Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig fell to Rebecca Peterson of Sweden 6-3 6-3.
Venus Williams raced through her match against Chinese Saisai Zheng 6-1 6-0, while seeded players Su-Wei Hsieh and Dayana Yastremska needed three sets each to overcome Jana Cepelova and Monica Niculescu respectively.
Fifth seed Elina Svitolina progressed with a 6-1 7-5 win over Whitney Osuigwe, while Maria Sakkari made light work of Camila Giorgi, winning 6-1 6-0.
Australia Wimbledon champion Ash Barty is also through to the second round.
DPA
