Svitolina, Kostyuk and Paolini help guide seeds to near-perfect mark on US Open Day 1

NEW YORK -- Day 1 of the US Open largely went according to plan, with Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk and Jasmine Paolini joining Jessica Pegula in posting opening-round wins Sunday.

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Seeded players finished 6-1 on the day, with Kamilla Rakhimova's upset of No. 27 seed Barbora Krejickova the lone exception. Aside from Paolini -- more on that below -- every seeded winner advanced in routine fashion.

Top seeds plant their flag

Svitolina opened the tournament's first night session on Louis Armstrong Stadium with a brisk 6-1, 6-2 win over Solana Sierra in 52 minutes.

The No. 9 seed is now 9-2 in her last 11 Grand Slam openers, and her 117 Major wins are the most by a Ukrainian player in the Open Era. She is the only Ukrainian with more than 100 Grand Slam victories during this period.

Meanwhile, Kostyuk, who has reached two straight Grand Slam semifinals, began her push for a third with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Storm Hunter in 67 minutes on Grandstand. The No. 11 seed won the final five games -- and seven of the last eight -- to move to 33-8 on the season.

She finished with eight aces and 22 winners overall against 12 unforced errors.

Paolini steadies in third to avoid upset

Paolini's path was far less straightforward. The No. 19 seed needed 1 hour and 46 minutes to fend off Veronika Erjavec, ultimately winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Despite a second-set lapse that opened the door for an upset, Paolini produced a solid stat line with 36 winners to 27 unforced errors.

After failing to reach the fourth round at four straight Majors, Paolini made the Wimbledon quarterfinals this summer -- a stage she has yet to reach at the US Open.

Alexandrova, Fernandez roll; Pliskova completes monster comeback

No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and No. 31 seed Leylah Fernandez also contributed to the seeds' positive record. Alexandrova beat McCartney Kessler 6-2, 6-2 in 66 minutes, while Fernandez defeated Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-2 in 75 minutes.

Over on Court 12, former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, unseeded but still dangerous, delivered the comeback of the day. She trailed Belgium's Hanne Vandewinkel 6-2, 5-2 before reeling off nine straight games -- saving a match point in the process -- to win 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win in 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Pliskova has now reached the second round in each of her last 10 US Open appearances, a run that includes one final and five quarterfinals.

Other results

• Polina Iatcenko def. Renata Zarazua 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7) in 3 hours, 27 minutes
• Donna Vekic def. Talia Gibson 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in 2 hours, 33 minutes
• Lanlana Tararudee def. Elvina Kalieva 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2 in 2 hours, 45 minutes

• Lucrezia Stefanini def. Dayana Yastremska 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in 2 hours, 13 minutes
• Wang Xinyu def. Emiliana Arango 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour, 18 minutes
• Katie Boulter def. Carol Young Suh Lee 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 in 2 hours, 35 minutes
• Taylah Preston def. Alycia Parks 6-3. 6-3 in 1 hour, 8 minutes