The American knocked out Scotland's Lisa Aitken 11-7, 11-6 in 20 minutes as she began her tournament at SquashZone today.

It sets up the second round encounter with Egypt's top seed El Welily, the world champion from 2017.

"It's a good feeling because usually it's not that way," said Blatchford Clyne. 

"I was feeling good, I'm happy to be back in San Francisco.

"This is my first time at SquashZone and it's so cool, this place is awesome. 

"We need more places like this all over the map. 

"But I'm happy to be back and definitely happy with my performance."

World number 39 Olivia Fiechter was another American to advance from the first round of the women's draw as she beat Belgium's Tinne Gilis 11-6, 11-8 at the Bay Club.

Her reward is a clash with New Zealand's fourth seed Joelle King.

There were contrasting fortunes for two English players as Emily Whitlock beat Canada's Danielle Letourneau 11-8, 11-9.

Millie Tomlinson lost 11-5, 11-7 to France's Melissa Alves.

In the first round of the men's event, New Zealand's Campbell Grayson came from behind to beat Australian Cameron Pilley 11-13, 11-2, 11-6.

Egypt's Karim Ali Fathi also had to battle back before beating England's Tom Richards 8-11, 12-10, 11-8.

Raphael Kandra of Germany saw off Spain's Iker Pajares Bernabeu 11-9, 11-4 and France's Mathieu Castagnet defeated Indian Ramit Tandon 12-10, 4-11, 11-5.

More first round matches will be played tomorrow, with the tournament's top seeds skipping this stage.

The event has gold ranking on the PSA World Tour.