Andy Murray of Great Britain celebrates his victory over Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic during their US Open men's singles match at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Roberta Vinci, the 2015 runner-up, and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova booked US Open third round spots Wednesday as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal prepared for the latest tests of their battle-scarred seasons.

Seventh seeded Italian Vinci, defeated by compatriot Flavia Pennetta in last year's final, eased past Christina McHale of the United States 6-1, 6-3.

The 33-year-old, playing at Flushing Meadows for the 14th time, goes on to face either Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan or Germany's Carina Witthoeft.

Kvitova, the 14th seeded Czech who recorded her best performance in New York 12 months ago when she made the last-eight, beat Turkey's Cagla Buyukakcay 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.

Kvitova was in her trademark all-or-nothing mood, mixing up 31 winners with 30 unforced errors against her 26-year-old opponent who was the first Turkish woman to play in the main draw at the tournament.

Up next for Kvitova is Ukrainian 22nd seed Elina Svitolina who put out Lauren Davis of the United States 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Defending champion and world number one Djokovic, who got walkover against Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic.

Earlier on Tuesday night, Wimbledon champions Andy Murray and Serena Williams powered into the second round.

Williams, launching her latest bid to rewrite the record books, started strong and didn't let up in 6-3, 6-3 victory over 29th-ranked Ekaterina Makarova.

The US world number one appeared untroubled by the balky right shoulder that has hindered her in recent weeks, delivering a dozen aces and 27 winners overall in the 63-minute contest.

While Williams has struggled since Wimbledon, Murray went from claiming a second title at the All England club to a successful defence of his Olympic gold in Rio.

Vying to become the fourth man in the Open Era to reach all four major finals in a calendar year, Murray, too, produced a dominant service performance in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Czech Lukas Rosol.

Before the floodlights came up, Serena's elder sister Venus claimed a Grand Slam record of her own as her 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova marked her 72nd appearance in the main draw of a major.

Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, trying to make it to the quarter-finals in New York for the first time, breezed past US qualifier Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-1 and fifth-seeded Romanian Simona Halep also eased through with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Belgian Kirsten Flipkens.

Men's third seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, a two-time semi-finalist, reached the second round with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-4 win over Spain's Verdasco.

Kei Nishikori, who became Asia's first men's Grand Slam finalist in New York in 2014, when he fell to Marin Cilic in the final, also advanced, downing German Benjamin Becker 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.