The final Grand Slam of the season kicked off on Monday from New York, and most of the favorites in the women's draw went through unscathed. However, one favorite was tested early by the oldest competitor in the field, and another found her hands full with a virtually unknown American, while a potential dark horse was met with an early exit.

Halep Rallies for Victory

Second-seeded Simona Halep received more than she bargained for at the hands of Danielle Collins, a player from the University of Virginia. Collins earned a berth into the draw by virtue of her NCAA women’s title this year. Early, it appeared the Romanian would have it her way as she gained an early break. But the young American fought back, forcing a tiebreak that she won handily.

The early deficit fueled the French Open finalist, who rattled off two focused sets en route to a 6-7 6-1 6-2 first-round victory. Halep will move on to face Jana Cepelova in the second round.

Halep admitted that nerves played a role early as a high seed playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium. “In the first set, I was a little bit nervous. This court is huge. It's my best ranking ever and best moment of my life. I have to enjoy it, but it's not easy. Everybody is telling me I have chances to win this title.”

Venus Survives Scare

Venus Williams was forced to battle back against 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm to advance 2-6 6-3 6-3. The two-time U. S. Open Champion overcame an annoying bee and the veteran of Japan to move on to the second round. The bee interrupted play a couple of times and Williams, who did not play her best, found a way to advance.

With constant questions regarding her eventual retirement, Williams stated that she received solid advice from her competitor who is nearly 10 years her elder. “According to Kimiko, I've got another decade,” she stated. Williams last won the U. S. Open in 2001 and has played some of her best tennis entering Flushing Meadows.

Muguruza Upset

The 25th-ranked and rapidly rising Garbine Muguruza, met an early exit at the hands of Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia, 6-3 7-6. The Spaniard could not take advantage of 15 break point opportunities, winning just three of those chances. Meanwhile, Lucic-Baroni broke four times, which was enough on this day.

After a slow start, Muguruza looked to have turned momentum in the second set as she jumped out to a 3-0 lead. However, the Croatian rallied to win the next four games and ultimately the tiebreak to eliminate the higher seed.

Wozniacki Tested

10th seed Caroline Wozniacki advanced after Magdalena Rybarikova was forced to retire due to injury, trailing 6-1 3-6 2-0. The Dane cruised early but took the Slovakian's best effort in the second set despite an obvious back issue that ultimately forced her early exit. Wozniacki will move on to face Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round.

Top Seeds Advance

The top women's seeds who were in action on Monday advanced to the second round. Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska and fifth seed Maria Sharapova moved on without incident, while sixth seed Angelique Kerber took three sets to get by pesky Ksenia Pervak of Russia.

Radwanska dropped just one game in her match against Sharon Fichman of Canada. Meanwhile, Sharapova dug an early hole but after a 2-4 deficit in the first set rattled off 10 straight games in the 6-4 6-0 win. Meanwhile, Kerber was forced to overcome a second-set bump in the road to defeat Pervak, 6-2 3-6 7-5.