US Open 2018: Serena Williams Wins, Says Comeback Is "Getting There"

Serena Williams opened her bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam after defeating Magda Linette in straight sets in the first round of the 2018 US Open on Monday.

Taking part in the event for the first time since 2016 after missing it last year to give birth to her daughter Olympia, Williams defeated her Polish adversary 6-4, 6-0 and will now face Germany's Carina Witthoeft in the round of 64.

The American, seeded 17th and a six-time champion at the event, broke Linette in the seventh game of the first set and proceeded to win comfortably thereon after as she didn't concede a game in the second set which lasted just 28 minutes.

"The first set was tight," Williams said after the win, as quoted on Yahoo. "It was my first match back here in New York so that wasn't the easiest. Once I got settled I started doing what I'm trying to do in practice."

Williams is continuing her comeback from maternity leave and nearly equaled Margaret Court's record of Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon last month, before losing to Angelique Kerber in the final.

Since then, she suffered the most lopsided defeat of her career to Johanna Konta, though she later revealed she found out the killer of her half-sister had been released on parole just minutes before the game, and exited in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.

However, the 36-year-old feels she's getting back to her best now.

"I think I'm getting there [to my best]," she added. "I've been feeling really good in practice and I'm training so hard."

Should Williams defeat Witthoeft in the second round, she could set up a third round meeting with her sister Venus, who defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 earlier in the day.

"Hopefully, we'll both be there," Venus, two-time US Open champion said of the prospect of facing her sister in another Grand Slam, as per Yahoo UK. She will play Italian Camila Giorgi next.

Serena is the favorite to win at Flushing Meadows and her chances are even greater, now that No. 1 seed and French Open champion Simona Halep crashed out in the first round to Estonia's Kaia Kanepi. It notably marked the first time a top women's seed exited the first round of the US Open.

Elsewhere, defending US Open women's champion Sloane Stephens defeated Russia's Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 7-5 to progress to the second round. The American will face Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina next.

Garbine Muguruza defeated Zhang Shuai and will face Karolina Muchova next while Elina Svitolina emerged victorious against American Sachia Vickery to set up a meeting with Tatjana Maria.

Other contenders, like Kerber, Petra Kvitova, and Caroline Wozniacki play their first round games Tuesday.