New York, Aug 31 (IANS) Troubles continued for veteran American player Venus Williams as she was defeated by compatriot Sofia Kenin in the women’s singles first round at the US Open, marking another early exit from a Grand Slam tournament on Monday (IST).
Kenin defeated Williams, who received a wild card into the main draw, by winning the final six points of their 2026 US Open first-round match, saving seven set points in the second set.
Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, escaped with a 6-2, 7-6(6) victory, setting up a second-round meeting with Jessica Pegula.
After Novak Djokovic was upset earlier at Arthur Ashe Stadium, opening night featured another legendary former US Open champion as Williams graced Flushing Meadows for the 26th time. But Kenin showed her Grand Slam pedigree in an entertaining all-American matchup that lasted one hour and 48 minutes.
Earlier on Sunday, Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk, Jasmine Paolini and Jessica Pegula posted opening-round wins, with Kamilla Rakhimova’s upset of No. 27 seed Barbora Krejickova the only blemish on a women’s singles schedule that largely went according to plan on Day 1.
In all, seven seeded players were in action on Sunday, and the day finished 6-1; except for Paolini, every seeded winner secured a routine straight-sets win.
Svitolina opened the tournament’s first night session on Louis Armstrong Stadium on Sunday with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Solana Sierra in 52 minutes.
The ninth seed is now 9-2 in her last 11 Grand Slam openers, and her 117 Major wins are the most by a Ukrainian player in the Open Era. She is the only Ukrainian with more than 100 Grand Slam victories in this period.
Meanwhile, Kostyuk, who has reached two consecutive Grand Slam semifinals, began her push for a third with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Storm Hunter in 67 minutes on Grandstand. The No. 11 seed won the final five games — and seven of the last eight — to move to 33-8 on the season. She finished with eight aces and 22 winners, against 12 unforced errors.
Paolini’s path was far less straightforward. The No. 19 seed needed 1 hour and 46 minutes to fend off Veronika Erjavec, ultimately winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Despite a second-set lapse that threatened an upset, Paolini produced a solid stat line, with 36 winners and 27 unforced errors.
After failing to reach the fourth round at four straight Majors, Paolini reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals this summer — a stage she has yet to reach at the US Open.
No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and No. 31 seed Leylah Fernandez also helped the seeds to a positive record. Alexandrova beat McCartney Kessler 6-2, 6-2 in 66 minutes, while Fernandez defeated Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-2 in 75 minutes.
On Court 12, former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, unseeded but still dangerous, delivered the comeback of the day. She trailed Belgium’s Hanne Vandewinkel 6-2, 5-2 before reeling off nine straight games — saving a match point in the process — to win 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Pliskova has now reached the second round in each of her last 10 US Open appearances, a run that includes one final and five quarter-finals.
Other results:
Polina Iatcenko bt Renata Zarazua 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(7); Donna Vekic bt Talia Gibson 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Lanlana Tararudee bt Elvina Kalieva 6-3, 6-7 (4); Lucrezia Stefanini bt Dayana Yastremska 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; Wang Xinyu bt Emiliana Arango 6-4, 6-2; Katie Boulter bt Carol Young Suh Lee 6-4, 3-6, 6-0; Taylah Preston bt Alycia Parks 6-3. 6-3
–IANS
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