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New York - Serena Williams made a triumphant return to the US Open on Monday, launching her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam victory with a straight-sets win as top-seeded Simona Halep made dubious history with a first-round exit.
Williams, who counts six US Open titles among her 23 Grand Slams, can match Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 majors with another title at Flushing Meadows.
She missed last year's edition as she gave birth to daughter Olympia on September 1, but showed every indication she's ready to make up for lost time in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Poland's Magda Linette.
"I think I'm getting there," said Williams, who turned up the heat on a steamy New York night that opened with a gala celebration of the US Open's 50th anniversary.
"I love opening for Serena Williams," Grammy-winning singer-song writer Kelly Clarkson told the crowd before she launched into her anthem "Stronger".
The spotlights were still blinking when Williams, in a black outfit featuring asymmetrical sleeves and a tulle skirt, took the court.
The 68th-ranked Linette held her own in the early going, but Williams gained the only break she needed in the first set in the seventh game and rolled from there.
She didn't face a break point in the 70-minute match, firing 23 winners and wrapping up the second set in less than half an hour.
"I feel pretty good," Williams said. "First match of a Grand Slam is always good to get through."
Williams' path may have been eased by Kaia Kanepi's stunning upset of world number one Halep, who became the first top-seeded woman to lose in the first round of the US Open.
It was the kind of Grand Slam history Halep could have done without as she tried to expunge the memory of her first round loss to Maria Sharapova at Flushing Meadows last year.
But the Romanian, who broke through for a first Grand Slam title at the French Open this year, had no answer for Kanepi's power.
The Estonian fired 26 winners to Halep's nine, cutting the rallies short and remorselessly punishing Halep's second serve.
"I thought I just have to be aggressive and try to stay calm," said Kanepi, whose run to the quarter-finals last year is just one of her six trips to the last eight in majors.
"I cannot say much about this match, just that I didn't really feel the ball," French Open champion Halep said. "But also, she played really strong and pushed me back, so it was tough."
As Halep pondered why she has been unable to produce her best tennis in New York - a semi-final run in 2015 notwithstanding - big-hitting Kanepi was feeling right at home in the Big Apple.
"I love playing here in New York, I have always loved it," she said. "I like the atmosphere in the tournament and in the city. I like the weather - humid and hot."
While Halep is no longer in her path, Williams could face another early test - a possible third-round clash with 16th-seeded sister Venus.
Venus, a seven-time Slam winner, outlasted another former champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
Neither Williams sister was willing to look too far ahead, Venus noting that Halep's ouster was proof of just how dangerous any opponent can be.
"There are no easy matches," she said. "The higher you're ranked, the more that people come for you. It's just a chance for them to just hit out."
Defending champion Sloane Stephens encountered late resistance but held on for a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Russian Evgeniya Rodina.
Stephens, seeded third behind Halep and Caroline Wozniacki, looked to be cruising with a 3-1 lead in the second set.
But unseeded Rodina had other ideas, turning the tables to take a 5-4 lead before Stephens reasserted herself.
"I just tried to stay calm and play my game," Stephens said.
Elsewhere on the opening day, seventh-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza advanced with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over China's Zhang Shuai.
Two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka, a former world number one now ranked 80th in the world, defeated Viktoria Kuzmova 6-3, 7-5 to set up a meeting with Australian Daria Gavrilova, who steamrolled Sara Sorribes 6-0, 6-0.
US Open results on Monday, the first day of the 2018 tournament at Flushing Meadows (x denotes seeded player):
Men
First round
Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt David Ferrer (ESP) 6-3, 3-4 - retired
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) bt Lukas Lacko (SVK) 7-5, 6-3, 6-2
Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) bt Gilles Muller (LUX) 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (9/11), 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2
Karen Khachanov (RUS x27) bt Albert Ramos (ESP) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
Jack Sock (USA x18) bt Guido Andreozzi (ARG) 6-0, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
Guido Pella (ARG) bt Casper Ruud (NOR) 6-4, 6-4, 6-1
Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) bt Kyle Edmund (GBR x16) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1
Dominic Thiem (AUT x9) bt Mirza Basic (BIH) 6-3, 6-1, 6-4
Steve Johnson (USA) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3
Taylor Fritz (USA) bt Mischa Zverev (GER) 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2
Jason Kubler (AUS) bt Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x19) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
Denis Shapovalov (CAN x28) bt Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 7-5, 5-7, 4-1 - retired
Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Sam Querrey (USA) 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1 - retired
Jeremy Chardy (FRA) bt Andrey Rublev (RUS) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Kevin Anderson (RSA x5) bt Ryan Harrison (USA) 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Juan Martin del Potro (ARG x3) bt Donald Young (USA) 6-0, 6-3, 6-4
Denis Kudla (USA) bt Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 6-4, 7-5, 6-2
Andy Murray (GBR) bt James Duckworth (AUS) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
Fernando Verdasco (ESP x31) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-2, 7-5, 6-4
Borna Coric (CRO x20) bt Florian Mayer (GER) 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Roberto Carballs (ESP) bt Mitchell Krueger (USA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3)
Daniil Medvedev (RUS) bt Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 7-5, 6-4, 6-2
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x15) bt Tommy Robredo (ESP) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4
John Isner (USA x11) bt Bradley Klahn (USA) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-4
Nicolas Jarry (CHI) bt Peter Gojowczyk (GER) 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
Cameron Norrie (GBR) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH x24) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4
Milos Raonic (CAN x25) bt Carlos Berlocq (ARG) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Lloyd Harris (RSA) 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
Ugo Humbert (FRA) bt Collin Altamirano (USA) 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3
Stan Wawrinka (SUI) bt Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x8) 6-3, 6-2, 7-5
Women
First round
Kaia Kanepi (EST) bt Simona Halep (ROM x1) 6-2, 6-4
Jil Teichmann (SUI) bt Dalila Jakupovic (SLO) 6-3, 6-0
Vania King (USA) bt Natalia Vikhlyantseva (RUS) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3
Rebecca Peterson (SWE) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x27) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
Serena Williams (USA x17) bt Magda Linette (POL) 6-4, 6-0
Carina Witthoeft (GER) bt Caroline Dolehide (USA) 6-3, 7-6 (8/6)
Camila Giorgi (ITA) bt Whitney Osuigwe (USA) 6-4, 6-1
Venus Williams (USA x16) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
Garbine Muguruza (ESP x12) bt Zhang Shuai (CHN) 6-3, 6-0
Karolina Muchova (CZE) bt Dayana Yastremska (UKR) 6-4, 6-2
Lucie Safarova (CZE) bt Petra Martic (CRO) 6-4, 6-4
Ashleigh Barty (AUS x18) bt Ons Jabeur (TUN) 6-1, 6-3
Maria Sakkari (GRE x32) bt Asia Muhammed (USA) 6-3, 6-3
Sofia Kenin (USA) bt Madison Brengle (USA) 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4)
Ana Bogdan (ROM) bt Marie Bouzkov (CZE) 6-4, 6-2
Karolina Pliskova (CZE x8) bt Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)
Sloane Stephens (USA x3) bt Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) 6-1, 7-5
Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) bt Kathinka Von Deichmann (LIE) 1-6, 7-6 (7/0), 5-2 - retired
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) bt Viktoria Kuzmova (SVK) 6-3, 7-5
Daria Gavrilova (AUS x25) bt Sara Sorribes (ESP) 6-0, 6-0
Barbora Strycova (CZE x23) bt Danielle Lao (USA) 6-3, 6-4
Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) bt Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) 6-0, 6-3
Vera Lapko (BLR) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 6-3, 6-3
Elise Mertens (BEL x15) bt Kurumi Nara (JPN) 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5
Julia Goerges (GER x9) bt Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Claire Liu (USA) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 6-4
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT x19) bt Donna Vekic (CRO) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
Wang Qiang (CHN) bt Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK x31) 6-2, 6-2
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROM) bt Jennifer Brady (USA) 6-3, 6-3
Tatjana Maria (GER) bt Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 6-3, 6-3
Elina Svitolina (UKR x7) bt Sachia Vickery (USA) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
