Swiatek, Alcaraz win at US Open as Nadal, Osaka make bow

Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz reached the second round of a sweltering US Open on Tuesday as former champions Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka prepared to light up the New York night.

World number one and French Open champion Swiatek eased past Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-0 in just 67 minutes.

Victory was a relief for the 21-year-old Pole who had suffered early losses at warm-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati.

"In matches, being a little bit stressed and tight, it can get a little bit worse, but still, I feel like my level is just better," said Swiatek.

"We'll see if I'm going to hold on to that."

Alcaraz, the 19-year-old world number four, was made to sweat by battling Sebastian Baez, winning the first two sets 7-5, 7-5 before the Argentine retired injured 0-2 down in the third.

"Nobody wants to see a match end like this. Sebastian is a great player, fights to the last ball and deserves better things," said Alcaraz, a quarter-finalist in 2021.

As the temperature soared beyond the 30-degree mark, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina was the most high-profile player to wilt.

The Kazakh lost 6-4, 6-4 to French qualifier Clara Burel, ranked a lowly 131, on the back of 37 unforced errors.

Britain's Cameron Norrie, the seventh seed, raced past France's Benoit Paire 6-0, 7-6 (7/1), 6-0.

Bizarrely, Paire started packing his bags at 0-5 down in the third set, and he was a beaten man after only 98 minutes.

"Obviously, it was really hot, and maybe towards the end of that third set, he was playing really quick and trying to make the points really short, and maybe the heat was getting to him," said seventh seed Norrie.

The result made ugly reading for Paire, who dropped the first set in just 18 minutes and the third in 19.

Sloane Stephens, the