NEW YORK — This was exactly what Taylor Fritz was supposed to do.

Facing a teenage opponent positioned 235 spots below him in the global rankings, Fritz made easy work of his American countryman Darwin Blanch on Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the US Open.

Fritz needed only an hour and 40 minutes to defeat the 18-year-old Blanch 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium — an expected but necessary outcome if Fritz is going to make another run at ending the American men’s 23-year Grand Slam drought.

And after fellow top Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe faced adversity during their first-round victories on Monday night, Fritz’s straight-set dominance could not be taken for granted.

“It’s normal to have some nerves coming out. As a top American, you have a lot of expectations,” Fritz said after winning with the roof closed on a rainy third day of the singles tournament.

“When I saw Ben’s first set, it just makes me feel like, yeah, if it happens, it happens. He regrouped and won the match pretty routinely afterwards, and it kind of gave me the reassurance. ‘Hey, if I come out nervy, play a bad first set, no need to panic.’ ”

Fritz, the No. 10 player in the world, faced a much lower-ranked opponent in Blanch (No. 245) than Shelton or Tiafoe did during their relatively close calls.

Shelton (No. 9) dropped his first set to 56th-ranked Tallon Griekspoor before winning 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Tiafoe (No. 12) needed to win his fourth and fifth sets to beat 90th-ranked Martin Damm Jr. 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

But all three advanced, meaning each remains in contention to become the first American man to win a major tournament since Andy Roddick at the US Open in 2003.

Fritz came the closest in 2024, when he surged to the Open final but lost there to Jannik Sinner. Fritz, 28, says there are “a lot of things” he does better now than when he made it to that final two years ago.

“I think I actually serve better than I did when I made the finals,” said Fritz, who on Tuesday recorded 14 aces, won 91% of the points on his first serve and maxed out at a blazing 142 mph.

“From the ground, I’d say I’m about the same. I’d say on that specific [2024] run, my body definitely felt really good, and I was moving exceptionally well that week. Honestly, I think I’m the same player or even better. It just depends on, like, the form at the time, and confidence.”

This year’s men’s bracket is wide open, with the top-ranked Sinner sitting out due to a knee injury and two-time Open winner Carlos Alcaraz having just returned from a wrist injury that sidelined him for more than four months.

On top of that, fifth-ranked Novak Djokovic and 11th-ranked Arthur Fils were both upset in the first round.

Fritz isn’t focused on any of that yet — “none of that matters until I’m in the semis or the finals, honestly,” he said Tuesday — as Italy’s Mattia Bellucci (No. 95) awaits him in the second round.

But the path is there for Fritz, not only to end the American men’s drought, but to win his long-awaited first Grand Slam tournament.

“It’s super important for me,” Fritz said of winning a major. “I’d be pretty disappointed, in the end of it, if I wasn’t able to achieve that. In my life, any time I have set a big goal for myself, I’ve always done it. It would be really tough for me to not.”

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