Alexander Zverev beat Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-4, to wrap up an opening round of the US Open.
Zverev fought off top-notch tennis at times from Tabilo to reach the US Open second round for the ninth time.
Zverev broke to start the match and sprinted through the opening set. Tabilo settled in and held his own in the second, serving first and leading the entire way until the tiebreak. The left-hander even had a set point on Zverev’s racquet at 5-6, Ad-out, after blasting an inside-out forehand crosscourt winner.
But Zverev erased it with a service winner out wide and claimed the tiebreak at his first opportunity. In the third, Zverev broke in the tenth and final game, his third break of the match, US Open reports.
“It wasn’t great at times to be very honest, but you know, I’m through, I won in straight sets, that’s the most important thing. There’s a lot to build still, there’s a lot to improve,” Zverev said.
Next for Zverev is Brit Jacob Fearnley, who beat Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. Zverev leads their head-to-head 2-0.
The German did well to bounce back from his Wimbledon first-round loss. He also made back-to-back semifinals at the hard-court ATP Masters 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati.
Zverev hopes what is next is his first major championship title. He has had two other major final appearances, including at Roland Garros 2024 and the 2025 Australian Open.
Gauff, Osaka cruise into second round
The No. 3 seed American Coco Gauff rebounded from a slow start and a second-set wobble to outlast Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5 in the final match of the women’s first round.
After a slow start—she trailed 2-0 and 3-1 in the opening set—Gauff appeared to be on her way to a routine victory, up 6-4, 4-2. But Tomljanovic was unbowed, slugging her way back into the match, denying Gauff when she was two points from victory at 6-5, and blitzing the American in the second-set tiebreak, 7-2, to force a decider
Gauff took the early advantage in the third, pulling ahead 3-1. But she couldn’t convert break opportunities in each of Tomljanovic’s next two service games and was broken serving for the match at 5-4, a pair of double faults gifting Tomljanovic an early advantage in the game.
Gauff then dug deep to break for a 6-5 lead held her serve to secure the hard-fought win.
Next up for Gauff is Donna Vekic, the former world No. 17 who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2024 and the quarterfinals at the US Open in 2019. Vekic outlasted world No. 40 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in a tough three-setter in the opening round.
Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka kicked off her US Open campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Greet Minnen.
Facing the 106th-ranked Belgian, Osaka attained a solid level inside Louis Armstrong Stadium on Tuesday night to seal a place in the second round.
At world No. 24, Osaka is seeded for the first time at a Slam since the 2022 Australian Open, and her latest win—her 10th in her past 13 matches—follows on from a third-round finish at Wimbledon and a final appearance at the recent Canadian Open.
Osaka will next play Hailey Baptiste in the second round.