Aryna Sabalenka beat Camila Osorio 6-4, 6-4 to open her US Open defense, a result that barely moves the needle on its own but sets up the more interesting question of the next two weeks. No woman has won three straight US Open titles since Serena Williams closed out her run in 2014, and Sabalenka now needs six more matches to get there without a hint of first-round nerves showing.
The bigger story is how thin the depth chart looks behind her after Monday's results. Iga Swiatek moved to 30-1 in Grand Slam openers with a straightforward win over Wang Xiyu, and Naomi Osaka needed two tiebreaks to escape her own return to the tournament, evidence that even the contenders are finding this draw uneven early. Watch whether Sabalenka's path stays this clean through the second week, because a three-peat bid rarely gets easier as the seeds get better.