New York: Reigning French Open champion Ashleigh Barty shook off an "appalling" first set to defeat Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday in the first round of the US Open.

The Australian second seed advanced to a second-round match against America's Lauren Davis. "I probably would have preferred if it was a little bit more straightforward, but, yeah, happy the way we were able to fight through that and find a way after a pretty awful start," said Barty.