NEW YORK -- Top-ranked Iga Swiatek fought through a tough first-round match at the US Open on Tuesday, and two-time champion Naomi Osaka made an impressive return to the tournament by beating No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 in a rare first-round clash between former major winners.
Osaka, the 2018 and 2020 champion in Flushing Meadows, needed only 64 minutes to oust Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion.
It was the kind of performance that was standard from Osaka when she reached No. 1 in the rankings and won four Grand Slam titles between 2018 and 2021.
But she had missed large gaps of time since, first for mental health breaks and then after giving birth, and just this month posted on social media about the struggles of not playing as well as she used to after failing to qualify for the tournament in Cincinnati.
She smashed 19 winners against only five unforced errors Tuesday, and said the adoring New York crowd fueled her from the moment she stepped out on the court.
"I was trying not to cry when I was walking out," Osaka said. "I remember last year I was watching Coco play and I so badly wanted to step on these courts again and I didn't know if I could."
Her emotional return was nearly derailed by an uncooperative 1-year-old.
"Last night, my daughter didn't want to go to sleep on her bed time so I had to hold her for quite a while," Osaka said. "I was like, oh wow, she really picked the perfect day not to go to sleep."
It was an uneven performance from hard-hitting Ostapenko, who had six double faults and 21 unforced errors. She fought off two match points before Osaka slammed the door with a blistering crosscourt forehand winner to set up a second-round meeting with Karolina Muchova , who defeated Katie Volynets 6-3, 7-5.
Swiatek had a more difficult time, edging Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 7-6 (6) despite 41 unforced errors. The 2022 champion was one point from being forced to a third set when Rakhimova, who was added to the main draw as a lucky loser after another player pulled out injured, took a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker.
But Swiatek recovered and won the next five points, finishing the match when her opponent missed a backhand.
"At the beginning [I felt] good, but then I got a little bit tight and my opponent used it, so I was trying to get back to my game," Swiatek said in her postmatch on-court interview. "I've just been trying to adjust to the courts, haven't practiced a lot, so this time I just wanted to feel how it is on Arthur Ashe. ... I'm pretty sure day by day I am going to get more and more rhythm."
Swiatek improved to 22-1 in first-round matches at Grand Slams, including 6-0 at the US Open. She next faces Ena Shibahara , a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6) winner over Daria Saville .
In other women's singles matches Tuesday, Danielle Collins ' singles career at Grand Slams ended when the No. 11 seed was upset by fellow American Caroline Dolehide 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Collins, 30, has announced she plans to retire at the end of the season. She is still entered in doubles at Flushing Meadows.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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