Novak Djokovic thrashed Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 on his long-awaited US Open return on Monday, guaranteeing he will take back the world number one ranking from Carlos Alcaraz.
The 36-year-old Serbian star, who missed last year's tournament over his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19, is chasing a 24th Grand Slam title and plays Spain's Bernabe Zapata Miralles in round two.
Djokovic, a three-time US Open champion, reeled off the opening eight games of the match before Muller belatedly got on the board, earning sympathetic applause from a crowd including former US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.
The second seed showed little mercy to his overmatched rival, breaking serve eight times and clinching victory in an hour and 35 minutes.
"I started tremendously well out of the blocks," said Djokovic, whose match didn't begin until after 11pm following a ceremony honouring Billie Jean King and the 50th anniversary of equal prize money for men and women at the US Open.
"I knew it was going to be a late night for me, late start of the match. Nevertheless, I mean, I was excited to go out on the court," said Djokovic.
"I didn't care if I started after midnight because I was looking forward to this moment for few years, to be out on the biggest stadium in our sport, the loudest stadium in our sport, playing night session."
"Everyone knows in tennis that night sessions at Arthur Ashe definitely are the most exciting, fun, loud, energetic sessions you can have out there on the tennis world," he added.
Djokovic's previous match in New York was the 2021 final he lost to Daniil Medvedev, a defeat which stopped him from completing a calendar Grand Slam.
He improved his first round record at the US Open to 17-0 against Muller, who was making his main draw debut at the tournament.
"I think the performance explains how I felt tonight, particularly in the first two sets. It was kind of lights-out tennis really, almost flawless, perfect first set," said Djokovic.
"I've probably had the answer for every shot he had in his book. Overall I'm very, very pleased with the way I feel, with the way I'm playing.
"Hopefully I can maintain that level. It's just the beginning of the tournament, but I already like the level of tennis."
‘pretty special win’
Former champion Dominic Thiem secured his first Grand Slam win in almost three years on Monday after beating 25th seed Alexander Bublik in the first round of the US Open.
The Austrian defeated Bublik 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to snap a seven-match losing streak at majors, which included a run of six consecutive first round exits following his run to the last 16 of the 2021 Australian Open.
"It was a very good match basically from the first moment on. It's a pretty special victory, because it's the first since two-and-a-half years at Grand Slams," said Thiem.
The 29-year-old's career has nose-dived since his crowning moment in 2020, when Thiem came from two sets behind to beat Alexander Zverev in that year's pandemic-affected US Open final held behind closed doors.
Once the world number three, Thiem's ranking plummeted to 352 in June 2022 after a wrist injury sidelined him for nine months and prevented him from defending his US Open title.
He is now back inside the top 100, earlier this month reaching the final in Kitzbuehel -- his first championship match since the season-ending ATP Finals in 2020.
"It was a very good road for me," Thiem said of his journey over the past three years.
"Especially personally I was learning a lot, so I don't want to miss anything in this road, but obviously tennis-wise or sports-wise was not easy all the time.
"So that's why I'm even happier that I got the win today. First win on Grand Slam since a while. I had some good previous weeks as well with the first finals after the injury.
"So it's feeling good, and I'm really looking forward to the next one."
4th seed Rune out
Danish fourth seed Holger Rune crashed out of the US Open on Monday, losing in four sets to Spanish journeyman Roberto Carballes Baena.
Rune, beaten in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon by Carlos Alcaraz, succumbed 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 2hr 42min.
Carballes Baena, a clay-court specialist ranked 63rd in the world who has never been further than the third round at a Grand Slam tournament, will face either Russia's Aslan Karatsev or the Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka in the second round.
The defeat was the latest in a series of disappointing early exits for Rune, the 20-year-old regarded as one of the brightest young talents in men's tennis.
Since his quarter-final loss to Alcaraz at Wimbledon, Rune has suffered first round losses at the Canadian Open, the Cincinnati Open and now the US Open.