(REUTERS) – Defending champion Sam Stosur raced through her first match of the US Open, downing Petra Martic 6-1, 6-1 in New York. The Australian, seeded seven this year at Flushing Meadows, was far too strong for her Croatian opponent, winning the first 19 points of the match in a row, then going on to hit 10 aces and landing 69 per cent of her first serves.
“I think probably today I carried on from exactly how I was feeling last year,” said Stosur, who upset Serena Williams in last year’s final.
“Hopefully that’s a good omen. As far as first rounds go, I was very happy with today. Last year I did feel that comfort out there and nothing bothered me; today was along the same lines.”
Stosur lost in the first round of the Australian Open and the Olympics and was beaten in round two at Wimbledon.
But the 28-year-old showed no signs of nerves and now plays Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland or Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania.
The match was over in just 51 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium – which was quick enough to beat the deluge that then descended over New York.
Just a few minutes after the match, play was suspended on all courts with a lengthy rain delay expected.
In other matches completed, Czech Lucie Hradecka defeated Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-3, Casey Dellacqua of Australia beat Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine, 6-2, 6-3, and Anna Tatishvili of Georgia bounced France’s Stephanie Foretz Gacon.