Jessica Pegula made light work of her first-round clash with Elena-Gabriela Ruse at the US Open, breezing through in straight sets.

She raced through a 6-3 6-2 victory in 83 minutes and is now set for an all-American second-round tie, with either Sofia Kenin or Venus Williams set to be her opponent.

Though Ruse initially managed to hold serve, Pegula made it hard for her, with the Romanian having to defend eight break points in the third game to take a 2-1 lead.

But Pegula reeled off the next three games, winning five of the last six in the first set overall – she missed out on the other despite generating two more break points.

It was a similar story in the second set despite Ruse's best early efforts, as she held her ground to stay level until 2-2.

From there, Pegula blitzed through the final four games of the match, eventually getting over the line on her third match point.

"A lot of nerves," Pegula said on court about her opener. "I feel there's a ton of nerves.

"Everybody's freaking out for the next three days, but I'm glad that it's over with, it's done with now."

Perfect Start at Home for Pegula! #USOpen pic.twitter.com/7XuFXbPZix

— wta (@WTA) August 30, 2026

Jasmine Paolini also got over the line in her first match at Flushing Meadows, though she had to go the distance against Veronika Erjavec.

Paolini eventually earned a 6-3 3-6 6-4 victory in one hour and 47 minutes, having forced 17 break points in total with Erjavec defending 10 of those.

Marta Kostyuk, who is looking to improve on her semi-final finish at Wimbledon earlier this year, swept aside Storm Hunter 6-4 6-1 in just 68 minutes.

And Kamilla Rakhimova pulled off an early shock in New York by defeating two-time grand slam champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in one hour and 53 minutes.

She converted her seventh match point to finally get over the line in a marathon final game, and she will play in the second round of the US Open for just the second time.

Pegula brings up double figures again

Pegula is the first player to claim 10+ wins in grand slams in consecutive seasons (2025 and 2026) after turning 30 since Serena Williams in 2018-19.

And while she proved a strong returner against Ruse, she also remained flawless on serve, facing just one break point, which she coolly defended.

That third game could have proved a major turning point after Pegula started to rack up unforced errors despite making Ruse face eight break points, but even though the Romanian held her nerve across the 15-minute and 34-second game, the American's pressure eventually told.

But it was another result that caught the eye on Sunday, with Rakhimova sending Krejcikova home early from the final major of the year.

It had been five years since her last US Open main-draw win, but Rakhimova showed no signs of nerves as she made sure she made it through to the second round for the third consecutive grand slam in 2026.