The first day of the final major of the season began on Monday with all eyes on Serena Williams and her quest for history. But with the top seed playing under the lights, there was a full slate of interesting matches throughout the day as other women began play in hopes for their own title run.

Serena begins pursuit of history

After a big “New York Style” U. S. Open opening night ceremony, Serena Williams finally took to Arthur Ashe stadium for her first-round match. However, the contest was basically over before it began as Vitalia Diatchenko was forced to retire due to injury down 0-6, 0-2.

It was immediately clear that Williams possessed more power than Diatchenko could handle, and she attacked her opponent’s serve, returning a multitude of winners. At times, the event appeared to be more than the young Russian could digest. But the bigger issue appeared to be her movement, for she was hampered by a left ankle injury. Towards the end of the first set, Diatchenko was forced to call for the trainer, who re-taped it.

Diatchenko gave it a go in the second set but clearly could not play at a competitive level and was forced to end her match against one of her tennis idols. After the 21-minute match, Williams praised her opponent for attempting to give it a go, mentioning “I said to her I was proud of her for even coming out and making this effort, knowing she was injured.”

Williams’ route to the final opened up somewhat as Sloane Stephens fell to CoCo Vandeweghe earlier in the afternoon. Stephens has a history of competing well against the top seed and had played well this summer.

Cibulkova upsets Ivanovic

Former French Open Champion Ana Ivanovic faced 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova early in Ashe Stadium. It did not take long before the first upset in New York was posted as the Slovak advanced 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

The seventh seed did not look comfortable on the court early in the match, appearing to struggle with her rhythm. Placing too many short balls into the Cibulkova’s wheelhouse, Ivanovic found herself on the defensive for much of the first set. However, in the second set she rebounded and took advantage of some shaky second serves from Cibulkova.

In the decisive third set, Cibulkova began to pressure the former world No. 1 with deep balls, forcing some untimely errors that led to two breaks of serve. And while Ivanovic fought back late, she could not even the set and was eliminated on the tournament’s first day.

It was a much-needed win by Cibulkova, who has seen her ranking fall from world No. 11 at the end of 2014 to its current position of No. 50. She was obviously happy with her performance. “Today I know that my game was there on the court,” she said. “I just had to stay tough and know I had to do it. She doesn’t give away shots.”

Bouchard wins first match following work with Connors

The difficult 2015 season by Eugenie Bouchard has been well documented. She entered the U. S. Open having lost 14 of her last 17 matches. In an attempt to turn her season around, she prepared for the tournament with five-time U. S. Open champion Jimmy Connors. The pair worked together in New York before Connors left on Sunday. Prior to her first-round match, Bouchard shared her new perspective. She said, “I want to forget about the past, the good and the bad, and really start new, start like a new career on Monday.”

Bouchard took a step in that direction by winning her first match since working with the American legend as she defeated American Alison Riske 6-4, 6-3. The Canadian pressured Riske during her service games and created 15 break point opportunities. She was able to cash in on five of those. Bouchard played aggressively throughout, and though it was not a clean performance, it was ultimately effective. To what extent Connors influenced the performance is unknown, but as Bouchard seeks to salvage a disappointing season, she is certainly glad to advance.

Pliskova eliminated

Eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who came into New York with momentum, fell hard to American Anna Tatishvili 6-2, 6-1. The Czech began play on Monday having won the U. S. Open Series but was outplayed from the outset.

After breaking serve five times and holding her own consistently, Tatishvili advanced in just 51 minutes. Pliskova could only muster nine winners and gave away 18 unforced errors. Perhaps burned out from a heavy summer of hard-court matches, the 23-year-old did not play up to her capabilities. Some had felt she was in a position for a successful two weeks at Flushing Meadows.