Serena, the six-time champion did not need the help of a fan-filled Arthur Ashe Stadium to provide a lift during her 7-5 6-4 win over the 96th ranked Kristie Ahn on Tuesday.
But at some point during the next two weeks, the 38-year-old American as she has instinctively done many times over the last two decades, will look to the stands for a turbo-boost and there will be none.
"I think the hardest is making sure you stay pumped," she said, when asked about the lack of fans and big-crowd atmosphere. "For me it was clearly easy because I'm always overly passionate. I love being passionate. It's what I'm best at."
Running on empty will take on a whole new meaning at the Covid-19 impacted US Open, where the boisterous energy provided by capacity crowds that pack tennis's biggest stadium have in the past refilled fatigued players' tanks.
While Serena was certainly not firing on all cylinders on Tuesday she began her US Open as she started 19 others - with a win - and improved her first round match record to 20-0.
And even after 20 years there were still records to be broken, Serena collecting her 102nd US Open win to surpass the mark she shared with Chris Evert. The record she covets, however, is equalling Margaret Court's 24 Grand Slam titles.
Down an early break in each set against Ahn, she constantly leaned on her biggest weapon - her serve - to get her out of trouble, hammering down 13 aces and winning 32 of 38 first-serve points.
But while her serve inflicted damage, her other weapons were not so sharp. And despite saying she was "super fit" she appeared fatigued.
Although her court coverage was lacking, her power and experience were more than enough to see off the 28-year-old Ahn, who is still chasing a first career title.
While Serena counted the positives to come from the win, she acknowledged there is still plenty to work on.
"I just wanted to be Serena, focused from the first point to the last point no matter what happens."
VENUS OUT FIRST ROUND
Karolina Muchova took advantage of an error-prone Venus Williams to advance 6-3 7-5 into the second round of the US Open on Tuesday and hand the two-time champion her first opening-round loss at the tournament.
Muchova broke the American to start the match and deployed a wide variety of shotmaking including a pinpoint serve, a slice backhand and some well-timed trips to the net to frustrate the former world number one.
Venus was sharper at the outset of the second set and served at 5-4 with the chance to extend the match to a third, but a backhand sailed on break point and Muchova leveled at 5-5.
The 24-year-old Czech held at love the next game and sealed the win when Venus issued her third double fault on match point.
"From the start I tried to be relaxed and get to my game but it was tough to get into a rhythm because we were having very short rallies," said Muchova, who hit 27 winners and saved six of her eight break points.
"I was happy I was able to turn it on in the end."
The 40-year-old Williams was 21-0 in opening-round matches at the U.S. Open coming into Tuesday but the seven-times Grand Slam champion was undone by 34 unforced errors at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where her sister Serena looked on from the largely empty stands.
