The world champion complained of slipping on the recently-painted court floor as he lost the opening game but he battled back to win the three tight games that followed.
Matthew, the top seed from Sheffield, eventually triumphed 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 in 49 minutes and was relieved to book his place in the second round against Canada's Shahier Razik.
Matthew said: "Julian played very well and put me under pressure for the whole match. The floor was very slippery and I was struggling badly at the start.
"Julian has come through qualifying and was obviously feeling a lot more comfortable then I was at the start. He read the conditions very well and was hitting a lot of hard, low shots that seemed to shoot through on the floor.
"Julian is constantly improving and has the type of game that could trouble a lot of the top guys, as he did with me tonight."
Illingworth was pleased with his performance and is doing all he can to help squash grow in the US. He said: "We have a lot of schools programs in place that are introducing young people to the sport and staging major tournaments like this one helps to raise the profile of the sport in America."
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