Ben Shelton recovered from a miserable start to defeat Tallon Griekspoor 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the first round of the US Open on Monday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Shelton, the highest-seeded American man at No. 8, was broken three times in a 28-minute first set. He won just one game, tied for the fewest games won in a major opening set of his career.
"Started off a little bit nervous tonight but found my rhythm at some point in the second set," Shelton said in his on-court interview. "Really happy to be out here on Ashe again, this is where I feel comfortable."
Shelton was a perfect 13-for-13 in service games from the second set onward as Griekspoor fell to 0-8 in his major career vs. ATP Top-10 opponents.
Shelton will face Hubert Hurkacz in the second round. They have not played each other previously.
Meanwhile, on Louis Armstrong, No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe had to rally from a two sets to one deficit to outlast fellow American Martin Damm 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Tiafoe has now won 22 consecutive first-round matches at majors, the longest active streak on the men's tour. Coming into the tournament, that distinction belonged to Novak Djokovic who had won an Open era-record 78 straight first-round matches before his defeat on Sunday.
It was Tiafoe's 25th career match win at Flushing Meadows -- 10 more than any other major in his career (Wimbledon: 15).
Also advancing for the Americans was No. 16 seed Brandon Nakashima, who defeated Sebastian Baez 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 for his ATP Tour-leading 23rd hard-court match win this season.
Nakashima was playing his 43rd career major match; the three games he dropped Monday were his fewest in any of those 43.
Another American, No. 14 seed Learner Tien, beat Nuno Borges 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.