It was also Nadal's first ATP Tour victory after he lifted the trophy at Flushing Meadows, where he beat Kevin Anderson in three straight sets to notch his third US Open and 16th Grand Slam title.

Nadal will face against Karen Khachanov, who ousted home player Wu Di 6-4, 6-2, in the second round.

Following Nadal appeared in the central court was home favorite Zhang Shuai, who was defeated by no. 11 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 7-5 in the women's singles second round.

Early in the day, wildcard Maria Sharapova outlasted fellow Russian Katerina Makarova 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to advance to the third round.

"Look, again, a few ups and downs. She definitely picked it up in the second. But I felt like although she won the second set, I was really motivated to start the third. I was questioning how I would fell physically, but I felt really good going into the third set," said the 2017 China Open winner after the match.

Sharapova had won all the previous seven matches against Makarova, six of those came in straight sets, and the most recent one was in her first event after 15-month suspension at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart

Awaiting Sharapova in the last 16 is no. 2 seed Simona Halep, who easily went through the second round as her rival Magdalena Rybarikova retired when trailing 6-1, 2-1 behind.

"You can take a little bit away from all the matches we've played in the past," Sharapova said about her next round match against Halep, a redo of the US Open first round, "We know each other's games very well. They've always been very challenging, tough, competitive, emotional." Sharapova now holds a perfect 7-0 record against the world no. 2.

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