Clara Burel capitalises on error-strewn display from Elena Rybakina at US Open

Clara Burel joined the growing list of giant-killing qualifiers at this year's US Open as she toppled Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-4 6-4 in the first round at Flushing Meadows.

Hot on the heels of Ukrainian Daria Snigur's win over two-time grand slam winner Simona Halep and Colombian Daniel Galan's triumph over fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 131-ranked Burel produced an assured display to eliminate Rybakina. Kazakhstan's Rybakina squandered six of the seven break points she earned in the first set as she racked up 19 unforced errors, committing 37 in all over the course of the match. Former junior number one Burel capitalised on her chances to break in the fifth and ninth games.

Burel broke the Russian-born Rybakina in the opening game of the second set and won more than three-quarters of her first-serve points under hot and humid conditions.

Iga Swiatek crushed Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-0 in an authoritative display.

Appearing in New York for the first time as the world's top-ranked player, Swiatek looked the part, breaking Paolini's serve seven times and reeling off the last seven games to advance. The Polish top seed is the favourite to win the year's final major after she dominated the French Open in June and went on a 37-match winning streak that was snapped in the third round of Wimbledon.

But her sheen of invincibility began to crack at US Open tune-up events, where she went 4-4 in her last eight matches before putting the field on notice with her complete game on a hot and humid morning at Louis Armstrong Stadium. "I'm pretty happy with the performance, and I feel like I have better rhythm than in Toronto and Cincinnati so that's great," Swiatek said afterwards. "I'm trying to enjoy that. In the first