Britain’s Harriet Dart is up against Peyton Stearns, who plays a deft backhand volley to hold her serve and go 2-1 up. Over on Grandstand Karolina Muchova, runner-up at Wimbledon this year and seventh seed here, is leading 4-1 against Sinja Kraus.
Fils, the 10th seed, finds himself stuck on deuce while serving against Tsitsipas – but the Frenchman saves three break points before a backhand down the line gives him the opening game.
Arthur Fils, who claimed his first Masters title this month by beating Frances Tiafoe in Cincinnati, has an intriguing opening clash. He’s up against two-time grand slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas on Louis Armstrong.
Here’s more on Sabalenka by Tumaini:
Such is the competition at the top of women’s tennis, her rivals are congregating at her front door. Elena Rybakina begins this tournament sitting at No 1 in the live standings and in control of her own destiny. Sabalenka must win the title to have any hope of retaining the top ranking, but Rybakina will become the new No 1 regardless of all other results if she reaches the semi-finals. Should either Coco Gauff or Jessica Pegula win the title and Rybakina fails to make the semi-finals, they would take top spot. This additional pressure could further add to Sabalenka’s woes, but perhaps, after 97 consecutive weeks as the undisputed best player in the world, this is exactly what she needs.
Aryna Sabalenka will be up on Arthur Ashe at 11.30am EDT (4.30pm BST). She’s met Camila Osorio twice, winning in straight sets on both occasions, the first of those at Wimbledon in 2021. The world No 1 is the defending champion and triumphed in 2024 too – but she’s had a tough time of it recently. Sabalenka lost in the round of 16 at the Cincinnati Open to Sara Bejlek and hasn’t reach a final since winning the Miami Open in March. Maybe a return to New York, where she’s had so much success, will bring the rhythm back.
A 12.13am start! It’s a no from me.
Preamble
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another day of action at Flushing Meadows. We’ve got two weeks left of this thing and, somehow, Novak Djokovic is already out of the picture, having suffered his first first-round loss at a slam since January 2006. Wild.
The attention today turns to Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz, both featuring on Arthur Ashe in the day. They’re up against Camila Osorio (world No 59) and Roman Safiullin (No 99), respectively. I’ll keep eyes on Louis Armstrong and the Grandstand – but I’ll surely miss a few things here and there. Help a man out and keep me company: drop me a line with your thoughts, queries, hopes, dreams, how much of a dent tickets have left in your bank account, whatever you fancy.
