Serena Williams brushed aside Maria Sharapova in the first round of the US Open as she began her pursuit of a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title in style.

The American, who feared she may have to withdraw from the tournament through injury, defeated her Russian opponent 6-1 6-1 in a ruthless demonstration of power and precision.

It took Williams under an hour to complete the routine win as Sharapova collapsed in the middle of the match and lost seven games on the spin.

Following a thoroughly impressive start to her bid for a seventh title in New York, next up for the eighth seed is fellow US player Caty McNally.

The 17-year-old will take on Williams in her first ever second round match at a Grand Slam after she defeated Timea Bacsinszky 6-1 6-4 on day one at Flushing Meadows.

Elsewhere, Williams' sister Venus also advanced through to the second round in similar fashion as she thrashed China's Zheng Saisai 6-1 6-0.

Ashleigh Barty and Karolina Pliskova also made it into the next round, but the 2016 champion Angelique Kerber was shockingly dumped out 7-5 0-6 6-4 by France's Kristina Mladenovic.