Four-time champion Rafael Nadal overcame dropping the first set to defeat Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata at the US Open first round on Tuesday.
Nadal triumphed 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 over his 198th-ranked opponent to register his 65th career win in New York.
The 36-year-old Spaniard, who is chasing a 23rd Grand Slam title and third of 2022, next faces Fabio Fognini.
Nadal holds a 13-4 career lead over the Italian but Fognini famously defeated him from two sets down in the third round of the US Open in 2015.
"I'm very happy to be back. It's a long time that I played here. I thought that maybe I'd never be back," said Nadal whose last appearance in New York saw him win the 2019 title.
World number three Nadal came into this year's tournament under an injury cloud after an abdominal strain had forced him to forfeit his Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.
Before Tuesday, he had played just once, a first-up loss to Borna Coric in Cincinnati and he looked rusty at the start on Tuesday.
Hijikata, making his Grand Slam debut, surprisingly broke for a 4-3 edge and claimed the opener in the 10th game on the back of 11 fearless winners.
However, Nadal was quickly back in business with breaks in the second and eighth games of the second set bringing him level in the contest.
A break in the fourth game of the third for a 3-1 lead was enough to secure a two sets to one lead.
He wrapped up the tie on a fifth match point, sealing the victory with searing forehand pass to progress in a tournament missing his longtime rival Novak Djokovic who was banned from the US over his refusal to be vaccinated.
Osaka bundled out
Naomi Osaka's hopes of a third US Open title were dashed in the first round as the Japanese star slumped to a straight sets loss against Danielle Collins.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, a winner at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and 2020, was beaten 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 by 19th-seeded American Collins in a battle of two big hitters.
Collins, finalist at this year's Australian Open, now advances to a second round clash with Spain's Cristina Bucsa.
The 28-year-old right-hander from Florida will head into that assignment brimming with confidence after showing great composure to put away Osaka on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Swiatek, Alcaraz win
Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz reached the second round of a sweltering US Open.
World number one and French Open champion Swiatek eased past Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-0 in just 67 minutes.
Victory was a relief for the 21-year-old Pole who had suffered early losses at warm-up events in Toronto and Cincinatti.
Alcaraz, the 19-year-old world number four, was made to sweat by battling Sebastian Baez, winning the first two sets 7-5, 7-5 before the Argentine retired injured 0-2 down in the third. "Nobody wants to see a match end like this. Sebastian is a great player, fights to the last ball and deserves better things," said Alcaraz, a quarter-finalist in 2021.
As the temperature soared beyond the 30-degree mark, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina was the most high profile player to wilt. The Kazakh lost 6-4, 6-4 to French qualifier Clara Burel, ranked a lowly 131, on the back of 37 unforced errors.