Chinese fifth seed Li Na reached the US Open second round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Olga Govortsova of Belarus on Monday.
Li, a quarter-finalist in 2009, next plays either Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic or Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden.
Spanish 18th seed Carla Suarez Navarro was the first player into the second round. She defeated America’s Lauren Davis 6-0, 6-0 in under an hour and next faces either Coco Vandeweghe of the US or Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic for a place in the third round.
Nadal looks to make up lost time
A year after watching last year’s final on television, Rafa Nadal is back in New York, revitalised and ready to make up for lost time at the US Open.
A knee injury forced Nadal to miss the last grand slam of 2012, spoiling his chances of reaching the final for a third straight year.
With Nadal absent, Britain’s Andy Murray went on to win his maiden grand slam title, beating Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller. “When I was in that period of time outside of the tour I didn’t follow the tour every week, because at the end I was focused on my recovery,” Nadal said ahead of Monday’s opening play.
“But a few matches you cannot miss, and for sure I watched all the final. It was a great final.”
This time Nadal is back, fully fit and at the top of his game, having won back-to-back Masters events at Montreal and Cincinnati.
Nadal also missed this year’s Australian Open but has been in great form since making his comeback, winning a record eighth French Open in June.
Nadal’s absence from last year’s US Open could have another positive effect, helping him regain the number one ranking from Djokovic because he has no points to defend.
Nadal, ranked second, can overtake the Serbian if he wins the US Open and Djokovic fails to reach the final. “This tournament will make the difference. It’s true that I am having a great season.”