By Associated Press

NEW YORK — Maria Sharapova made an impressive return to Grand Slam tennis, beating No. 2-seeded Simona Halep 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the first round of the U.S. Open.

Sharapova received a wild card to play in her first major tournament since returning from a 15-month doping ban. And she made the most of it, ripping 60 winners to Halep’s 15 and wearing down the Romanian with punishing groundstrokes accented by loud grunts. She shrieked with joy when Halep hit a backhand long over the baseline to end the match.

Sharapova, whose five major titles include the 2006 U.S. Open, next faces 59th-ranked Timea Babos of Hungary, who defeated Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 7-5, 5-7, 7-5.

Australian Jordan Thompson has knocked American Jack Sock out of the U.S. Open in the first round, beating him 6-2, 7-6(12), 1-6, 5-7, 6-4.

The 13th-seeded Sock was up 4-3 in the deciding set but his ground strokes, particularly his big forehand, failed him down the stretch. He dropped three straight games to lose the match.

Sock was the only one of the top Americans in action Monday to lose. John Isner, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson all advanced.

Thompson moves on to play Thomas Fabbiano of Italy, a four-set winner over Australian qualifier John-Patrick Smith.

Fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki rolled to a 6-1, 7-5, first-round U.S. Open victory over Romanian qualifier Mihaela Buzarnescu.

Wozniacki, among eight women who began the tournament with a shot at the No. 1 ranking, benefited from 41 unforced errors by her 133rd-ranked opponent, including 25 in the second set.

Wozniacki, a two-time finalist at Flushing Meadows, next faces Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, who defeated German Mona Barthel 6-2, 6-1.

Venus Williams shook off a mid-match lapse to improve to 19-0 in the U.S. Open’s first round and stay in the hunt for the No. 1 ranking.

The No. 9-seeded Williams, at 37 the oldest woman in the field, picked up a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Viktoria Kuzmova, a 19-year-old qualifier from Slovakia who is ranked 135th.

Williams entered the U.S. Open as one of eight women with a chance to rise atop the WTA rankings by tournament’s end.

It was the first tour-level main draw match of Kuzmova’s career, the 967th for Williams.