Top seed Karolina Pliskova through at US Open

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Top seed Karolina Pliskova started her bid for a first Grand Slam title with a comfortable win against Poland's Magda Linette in the US Open first round.

The Czech world number one, 25, was not at her fluent best, making 19 unforced errors in a 6-2 6-1 victory.

But ultimately Pliskova - last year's beaten finalist - had too much power for her 72nd-ranked opponent.

She hit eight aces and 29 winners to beat Linette, who has only one US Open win, in one hour and 18 minutes.

"I felt a little bit nervous coming out here, especially after last year. But I think I played pretty solid," Pliskova said.

Pliskova must reach the final to have a chance of retaining her ranking, with six other women all hoping to overtake her by winning at Flushing Meadows.

She has a lot of ranking points to defend after last year's defeat by Angelique Kerber, a fact perhaps contributing to a few nerves ahead of Tuesday's opening match on Arthur Ashe Court.

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