Opinion
A huge day of upsets in the women’s draw has seen the reigning champion, a two-time former champion, a seven-time major champion and the reigning Wimbledon title holder all crash out on day two of the US Open.
The title defence of Emma Raducanu failed at its first hurdle, with the Brit becoming the third woman in the Open Era to lose in the first round just twelve months after going all the way.
The 19-year-old’s well-documented struggles since emerging from qualifying to reign at Flushing Meadows last year continued when she lost to French veteran Alize Cornet in straight sets.
The Brit struggled on her serve, dropping three of her first four service games, the latter on a double fault, en route to losing the opening set 6-3.
(Photo by Shi Tang/Getty Images)
A comeback appeared on the cards when she broke for a 3-1 lead in the second, but Cornet, who was playing in a record 63rd consecutive major tournament, then won the final five games unabated to complete the straight-sets upset victory and advance to the second round.
The result means Raducanu joins Svetlana Kuznetsova and Angelique Kerber as defending champions to fall at the first hurdle on their return to New York, with the latter losing to a then very-little known Naomi Osaka in 2017.
It also means she will drop out of the world’s top 80 when the rankings are updated at the end of the tournament, though she tried to put a positive spin on her early departure, saying that she will start off a clean slate as far as rebuilding her ranking is concerned.
Osaka, for her part, suffered her earliest ever defeat at Flushing Meadows when she fell to American 19th seed Danielle Collins on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the result meaning she’ll end the Grand Slam season without a title for the first time since 2017.
The 24-year-old had won all three previous meetings in straight sets, including in the quarter-finals at the Miami Open this year, but Collins showed just how far she’s come this year, as evidenced by a run to the Australian Open final in January.
Having lost her past five matches dating back to Madrid, Osaka has now become a shadow of the player that broke through for her maiden Major title in New York four years ago, also claiming two Australian Open titles on either side of a second triumph in New York in 2020.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina was also another major casualty, the 25th seed falling to French qualifier Clara Burel in straight sets.
Despite her status as the reigning queen at the All England Club, Rybakina was relegated to Court 12 for her first match against Burel, a decision that was criticized by tennis fans and commentators.
“It was my dream to win at Wimbledon. That’s a shame. I feel like I’m not really the champion,” the 23-year-old said.
“I don’t think that’s fair. I’m not just talking about myself, but in general I think with all these decisions a lot of players are paying the price.”
Rybakina became the first reigning Wimbledon winner since Petra Kvitova in 2011 to fall in the first round at Flushing Meadows, and the result also means that no woman has completed the transatlantic double since Serena Williams in 2012.
Burel, who had to save five match points in her final qualifying match just to get into the main draw, next faces Belgian Alison van Uytvanck who defeated Venus Williams on Arthur Ashe Stadium, in what was, potentially, the American’s US Open swansong.
Earlier, there were no hiccups for top seed Iga Swiatek nor Aryna Sabalenka, who both won their first matches in straight sets, however Spanish fourth seed Paula Badosa had to come from a set down and back from the brink to defeat Lesia Tsurenko in a three-set thriller.
There were also victories for former Major champions Garbine Muguruza, Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens, with the latter advancing to face Swiatek in the second round in a match likely to be scheduled for Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In the men’s draw, two Spaniards at opposite ends of their careers advanced to the second round, with Carlos Alcaraz advancing when his opponent, Sebastian Baez, was forced to retire at 0-2 in the third set due to a leg injury.
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
It was a case of reverse deja-vu for the 19-year-old, who was forced to retire from his quarter-final clash against Felix Auger-Aliassime last year due to an upper leg injury.
Alcaraz remains in contention to become, potentially, the youngest men’s world number one, which would smash the record set by Lleyton Hewitt (20 years and nine months) in November 2001 by seventeen months.
At the other end of the spectrum, Rafael Nadal won on his comeback from the abdominal strain which forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon before the semi-finals, defeating Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata in four sets.
Hijikata, who was contesting his first Major main draw tournament, threatened an upset at first when he took the opening set 6-4, serving it out with an ace on set point, to leave the fans on Arthur Ashe Stadium stunned.
It marked the first time the Mallorcan native had ever lost the first set at the start of any US Open campaign he has ever contested.
As expected, the legendary Spaniard hit back to level the match, losing just two games in the second, before completing victory in four sets but not before a lengthy fifteen-minute service game in the fourth set during which he required five match points to serve it out in over three hours.
Next for the King of Clay is Italian firebrand Fabio Fognini, who did it the hard way having to come from two sets to love down to defeat Aslan Karatsev in five sets.
The 35-year-old had done it before at Flushing Meadows in 2015, when he became the only player to ever successfully recover from a two-set deficit to defeat Nadal at a major.
Rafael Nadal. (Fred Lee/Getty Images)
But while he’ll be hoping to do it all over again on Thursday morning (AEST), it’s the Spaniard who will start as the hot favourite as he attempts to complete the first undefeated season at a Major since Rod Laver completed his calendar slam in 1969.
In other men’s matches, James Duckworth defeated Chris O’Connell in another All-Australian clash, while Alexei Popyrin got the better of Taiwan’s Chun-Hsin Tseng in straight sets to line up a second round clash against Argentine 14th seed Diego Schwartzman.
Alcaraz and Nadal aside, it was a flawless day for the men’s seeds with the likes of Hubert Hurkacz, Grigor Dimitrov, Marin Cilic and Cameron Norrie all victorious, while Borna Coric had to dig deep defeating Enzo Couacaud in five sets.
Second round action gets underway this morning (AEST) with Andy Murray and Coco Gauff headlining the daytime session on Arthur Ashe Stadium before Serena Williams again kicks off proceedings at night against second seed Anett Kontaveit.
Men’s world number one, and defending champion, Daniil Medvedev, is second after Williams on Centre Court, while on Louis Armstrong Stadium, Nick Kyrgios will feature in the twilight following earlier matches involving Maria Sakkari and Madison Keys.
Canadian fans will be out in force singing “O Canada” with a Canadian double-header in the evening session, with Felix Auger-Aliassime taking on Jack Draper followed by 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu facing Brazilian fifteenth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Australia’s highest-ranked player, Alex de Minaur, is first up on Court 5, while Jordan Thompson and Ajla Tomljanovic are also in action with the latter hoping to set up a massive third round showdown against Serena Williams.
The men’s and women’s doubles will also get underway on Day 3.
Matches to watch on Day 3
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Day session – from 12:00pm (2:00am AEST)
Andy Murray (GBR) vs Emilio Nava (USA)
Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROU) vs [12] Coco Gauff (USA)
Night session – from 7:00pm (9:00am AEST)
Serena Williams (USA) vs [2] Anett Kontaveit (EST)
[1] Daniil Medvedev vs Arthur Rinderknech (FRA)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Day session – from 11:00am (1:00am AEST)
Wang Xiyu (CHN) vs [3] Maria Sakkari (GRE)
[20] Madison Keys (USA) vs Camila Giorgi (ITA)
[23] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) vs Benjamin Bonzi (FRA)
Night session – from 7:00pm (9:00am AEST)
Jack Draper (GBR) vs [6] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
[15] Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) vs Bianca Andreescu (CAN)
Grandstand
From 11:00am (1:00am AEST)
[5] Ons Jabeur (TUN) vs Elizabeth Mandlik (USA)
Hugo Grenier (FRA) vs [13] Matteo Berrettini (ITA)
[29] Tommy Paul (USA) vs Sebastian Korda (USA)
Not before 5:00pm (7:00am AEST)
[14] Leylah Fernandez (CAN) vs Liudmila Samsonova
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