Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin produced a dominant display to dispatch Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-2 6-2 in the opening round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
American Kenin, who has lifted two titles in 2020 including her maiden Grand Slam triumph in Melbourne, broke her opponent in the first game to set the tone for the match before claiming the opening set in just 37 minutes.
The 21-year-old started the second set just like the first to take an early lead and went on to serve out the match in clinical fashion.
"I knew I could dominate her," Kenin said. "Today I felt like I couldn't miss a ball. I played really good tennis and I'm proud of myself."
Second seed Kenin will next face either Russian Vera Zvonareva or Canada's Leylah Fernandez.
Elswhere, Serena Williams kicked off her latest quest for an elusive 24th grand slam singles title with a straight-sets win over compatriot Kristie Ahn.
Williams needed just under one-and-a-half hours to come through 7-5 6-3 despite falling a break down to her world number 96 opponent in both sets.
Four straight games turned the second set on its head and enabled Williams to belatedly find the momentum she required to claim victory.
Johanna Konta wins the battle of the Brits 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/olFAtbiYxs
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2020
Meanwhile, Johanna Konta shrugged off some early resistance from her compatriot Heather Watson to reach the second round.
The British number one had to fend off a series of set points in the first set tie-break before ultimately cruising to a 7-6 6-1 (7) success.
It was sign of the further progress being made by the world number 13 under new coach Thomas Hogstedt, in the wake of her run to the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open last week.
Watson narrowly avoided the dreaded bagel in the second set, but Konta converted her second match point to book a second round meeting with Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.
Their meeting will revive memories of their controversial Fed Cup clash in Constanta in February 2017, when Cirstea accused the Briton of gamesmanship for leaving the court midway through an Ilie Nastase tirade.
Konta swiftly put the issue to bed with a straight sets win in Eastbourne four months later, and will start a strong favourite against the current world number 77, who scored a straight sets win over Christina McHale.
Konta said: "I think it is always inevitably going to be a bit more stressful whenever you play a compatriot – there’s another level of anxiety.
"So I was anticipating that and I just kind of wanted to put that to one side and enjoy playing a really good player and competing well.
"I was pleased with how I competed and how I answered that question from my opponent today."
