Iga Swiatek eases through to second round of US Open as eighth seed Maria Sakkari crashes out in New York

The defending champion and world No. 1 came into the final Grand Slam of the year seemingly not in top form, but wasted no time in booking her spot in the second round.

Swiatek was efficient behind both her first and second serve and accurate with her groundstrokes as she dished out a bagel in the opener.

Peterson had a great chance to get on the board on Swiatek’s first service game in the second set, only to pass up three break points. She did, however, level the set at 1-1 to the delight of the crowd on Arthur Ashe.

That delight was short-lived though, as Peterson was broken to love as Swiatek moved within sight of the finish line at a set and 3-1 clear.

The Pole secured the double break in the sixth game before sealing the straight-sets win on her second match point.

She needed just 58 minutes to get over the line, hitting 20 winners and converting five of six break points in a dominant performance.

“I really wanted to play solid and start the tournament with everything that I’ve focused on when I was practising here for the whole week, so I’m glad I could play such a great game,” Swiatek said on-court after her victory.

“I just feel happy that with all the pressure and expectations I could just have fun on court.”

She also joked that Frances Tiafoe – on Ashe after her – had told her yesterday not to win too quickly as he “doesn’t have time to warm up”.

Swiatek will play Australia’s Daria Saville next, after she beat Clervie Ngounoue 6-0 6-2 in an hour and 13 minutes.

No. 18 seed Victoria Azarenka also made it into the second round in straight sets, beating Fiona Ferro 6-1 6-2.

Azarenka, a three-time US Open finalist, hit 30 winners and broke her opponent seven times as she raced past her French counterpart.

Belinda Bencic and Karolina Muchova also cruised into the second round but there was an upset as eighth seed Maria Sakkari was beaten 6-4 6-4 by Rebeka Masarova.

World No. 71 Masarova fought back from 4-1 down in the first set and wasn’t broken in the second as she claimed a surprise win.