Serena Williams got off to a flying start when she defeated Ekaterina Makarova from Russia 6-3 6-3 on the Arthur Ashe stadium last night.

In what was dubbed to be the match of the Ladies draw yesterday, the World No. 1 needed 63 minutes, served 12 aces, won 90% of her first serves and hit 27 winners, to edge one step closer to her 23rd Grand Slam title.

Earlier this week, her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, confirmed that Williams was back to her old self again, despite being hindered by injuries and losing the first two Grand Slam finals of this year before capturing her seventh Wimbledon and 22nd Grand Slam titles in June.

Next up will be fellow American, Vania King, who defeated Antonia Lottner of Germany 7-6(7) 6-3.

Older sister, Venus Williams, playing in her 72nd Grand Slam tournament, had a royal struggle on her hands and needed three tough sets to defeat unseeded Kateryna Kozlova from the Ukraine 6-2 5-7 6-4.

In a match that lasted 2 hours and 42 minutes, the two-time US Open champion managed to notch up 63 unforced errors on her way to her 18th US Open Tennis Championship match win.

The road does not get any easier for the 36 year old Williams now, as next up will be Julia Georges from Germany, who defeated Yanina Wickmayer 6-3 6-2.

Simona Halep, Samantha Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova and Timea Bacsinszky also advanced to the second round.

Meanwhile, crowd favourites, Ana Ivanovic and Eugenie Bouchard, both lost their respective matches.