Defending US Open women's singles champion Iga Swiatek took the first step towards retaining her crown with a straightforward win over Rebecca Peterson in the first round.
The world number one took just 58 minutes to see off the Swede in a 6-0 6-1 drubbing, taking five of her six break points and firing 20 winners compared to just two for a beleaguered Peterson.
Not until the eighth game of the match would Peterson win a game against the merciless champion, which would end up being the only blemish on Swiatek's notebook during an emphatic victory.
Swiatek's reward will be a second-round tie with Daria Saville, who posted a bagel of her own in a 6-0 6-2 triumph over Clervie Ngounoue, and over on Court 8, Great Britain's Yuriko Miyazaki won a Grand Slam match for the first time in her career.
The 27-year-old - who progressed through qualifying to reach the main draw - sent Russia's Margarita Betova packing in a 6-3 6-3 win, taking exactly 80 minutes to earn a slice of personal history.
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Betova earned the first break of the match for a 3-1 lead, but Miyazaki remained composed and came storming back with a five-game winning streak to clinch the opener.
The world number 198 also fought back from a 40-0 deficit on serve in the fifth game of the second set, before breaking to love for a 4-2 lead, and Betova sent one final forehand long to punch Miyazaki's ticket to round two.
Miyazaki now faces a taxing test against 15th seed Belinda Bencic for a spot in the third round, while there were also wins for Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Karolina Muchova and the returning Caroline Wozniacki in the women's section.
However, eighth seed Maria Sakkari suffered an early elimination in a 4-6 4-6 loss to Rebeka Masarova, while 2017 champion Sloane Stephens went down 2-6 7-5 4-6 to Beatriz Haddad Maia.
There was more for the home crowd to celebrate in the men's tournament, though, as 2022 semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe overcame compatriot Learner Tien 6-2 7-5 6-1.
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Earlier in the day, 2020 winner Dominic Thiem and 25th seed Alexander Bublik played out the opening headline encounter at Grandstand, and the Austrian produced a clinical display to prevail 6-3 6-2 6-4.
Novak Djokovic also sailed through to the second stage by seeing off Alexandre Muller 6-0 6-2 6-3 - ensuring that he would return to world number one in the process - while Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame former world number three Milos Raonic 6-2 6-3 6-4.
Seeking to make amends for his second-round Wimbledon exit, fifth seed Casper Ruud was made to work against American qualifier Emilio Nava but ultimately came through 7-6[5] 3-6 6-4 7-6[5].
Taylor Fritz and Christopher Eubanks also made it through, while Argentina's Juan Manuel Cerundolo fought back from two sets down to defeat Belarus' Ilya Ivashka 2-6 6-7[4] 6-3 6-3 6-3.
However, one of the shocks of the day came on Court 5, where men's fourth seed Holger Rune lost in four sets to Roberto Carballes Baena, who prevailed 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-2 for his first-ever win over a top-ranked opponent.
Other seeded players to suffer early exits were Lorenzo Musetti, who lost a five-set thriller to Titouan Droguet, and Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was beaten in four by Mackenzie McDonald.
Ben Knapton
