Carlos Alcaraz downed big-serving American Reilly Opelka 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to begin his campaign at Flushing Meadows, where this fortnight Alcaraz is aiming for his second US Open crown and sixth major trophy overall.
With the win, Alcaraz stays on course in the battle for World No. 1. If the Spaniard matches or betters Jannik Sinner’s result, Alcaraz will leave New York atop the ATP Rankings.
Alcaraz boasts a season-leading 55 wins and six titles, according to the ATP Win/Loss Index. Last Monday, Alcaraz lifted his first Cincinnati Open title.
He will next face Mattia Bellucci in the second round. Alcaraz will look to avoid a repeat of his stunning second-round exit last year, when he fell to Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets.
Elsewhere, Casper Ruud registered a 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(5), victory against unseeded Sebastian Ofner in their first-round match in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Ruud, who’s most comfortable on clay, has had mixed success on the hard courts at the Austrailian Open and US Open since his ‘22 final run in Flushing Meadows, where he fell to Carlos Alcaraz in four sets. In eliminating Ofner, Ruud collected just his ninth win at a hard-court Grand Slam event since then.
Awaiting Ruud in Round 2 is Belgian Raphael Collignon after he beat Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan, a lucky loser, in straight sets.
If Ruud can advance to his second US Open singles final, he’ll be the first player since Martina Navratilova (1983) to make the singles and mixed doubles finals at the same New York event.
Ruud and Iga Swiatek lost to Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani in this year’s mixed doubles final.
Earlier, Jack Draper, who was beaten by Jannik Sinner in last year’s US Open semifinals, returned to winning ways with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-2 result against Argentine qualifier Federico Agustin Gomez.
Zarazua stuns Keys, Andreeva dismantles Park
Renata Zarazua staged an upset at The US Open by beating Australian Open champion Madison Keys to reach the second round.
The Mexican had scored her first ever Top 10 triumph with a gruelling 6-7(10), 7-6(3), 7-5 scoreboard to down No. 6 seed Keys. Zarazua fell in six previous attempts against Top 10 talents, but secured a career-best result in three hours and 10 mins to book a Round 2 rumble with France’s Diane Parry.
Zarazua, who trailed by a set and 3-0, is the first Mexican woman to defeat a Top 10 seed at a Grand Slam since Angelica Gavaldon took down Jana Novotna at the 1995 Australian Open.
Last year was the first time in the 27-year-old Mexican’s career that she played in all four Grand Slam singles main draws. The two titles on her resume are both WTA 125s, a year ago in Charleston and, in 2023, Montevideo. Her career-high ranking is No. 51.
The Mexican has never advanced past the second round. She’ll have that chance when she meets Diane Parry, a 6-1, 6-0 winner over retiring Petra Kvitova.
In another action, Mirra Andreeva made an impressive return to competition on Monday night at the 2025 US Open, dismissing a wayward Alycia Parks under lights in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Andreeva had played just one match since Wimbledon due to an ankle injury, while Parks had arrived in New York fresh off her run to last week’s WTA Monterrey semifinals.
Andreeva, however, played steady, tactically-astute tennis, breezing into Round 2 with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Andreeva arrived in New York without a win since her Round of 16 triumph at Wimbledon over Emma Navarro seven weeks ago.
Earlier this year she won back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells, and reached consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Venus Williams’ US Open comeback ends in three-set loss to Muchova
Venus Williams put on a show for the fans in attendance at Arthur Ashe Stadium but ultimately fell to No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova in the first round.
Muchova, last year’s semifinalist, proved too strong for the seven-time Grand Slam winner, closing out a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory in exactly two hours.
The result marked Venus’ fourth consecutive first-round exit in New York.
Venus was broken in the opening game and quickly fell behind 0-2, facing three break points in her second service game at risk of going down a double break early. But she saved all three and rallied to win three straight games, taking a 3-2 lead before dropping the next four to concede the first set. She committed seven double faults in the opener.
In the second set she broke Muchova in the opening game and never looked back, hitting 10 winners to just five unforced errors, and limiting herself to one double fault. But the momentum didn’t last. Venus faded in the third set, allowing Muchova to regain control and seal the win, WTA reports.
Muchova advanced to face either Sorana Cirstea or Solana Sierra in the second round. Reflecting on the match, she acknowledged the challenge and the honor of sharing the court with a legend.
Williams was competing in a record 25th US Open singles campaign, 28 years after debuting in 1997, the year she stunned the world by powering into the final as a teen phenom.
Three years later she won her first US Open before defending her title in 2001, the first of only three women this century—the others Kim Clijsters and her sister Serena Williams—to retain a women’s singles crown at Flushing Meadows.
Sixteen years later, in 2017, she was mere points away from another US Open final before being pipped by eventual champion Sloane Stephens.
Against Muchova she was playing her 101st US Open singles match, of which she has won 79—numbers bettered only by Serena, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
At age 45, she is the third-oldest woman to play a singles match in the tournament’s history.