NEW YORK (Reuters) – Highlights of the first day at the U.S. Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, at Flushing Meadows on Monday (times GMT):
0300 SABALENKA PUSHED TO THREE SETS IN FIRST ROUND WIN
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka was given a scare against Nina Stojanovic but came through with a dominant third set performance to advance 6-4 6-7(4) 6-0.
Up next for Sabalenka is French Open semi-finalist Tamara Zidansek, who dispatched American Bernarda Pera 6-4 7-6(4).
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U.S. Open order of play on Tuesday
0245 OSAKA SAILS INTO SECOND ROUND
Defending champion Naomi Osaka beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4 6-1. The third seed fired 34 winners to set up a second-round clash with Olga Danilovic.
0230 PARKS TIES U.S. OPEN SERVE SPEED RECORD
American wild card Alycia Parks, aged 20, clocked 129 mph on the speed gun on one of her serves in her first round loss to Danilovic, tying the U.S. Open serve speed record set by Venus Williams in 2007.
2338 TSITSIPAS SURVIVES MURRAY SCARE
Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was pushed to five sets by 2012 champion Andy Murray before the Greek prevailed 2-6 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3 6-4 in a marathon clash in Arthur Ashe Stadium lasting nearly five hours.
2316 GAUFF PASSES LINETTE TEST
American Coco Gauff surrendered the opening set but rallied to beat Magda Linette 5-7 6-3 6-4, while three-times U.S. Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka trailed 4-1 before winning 11 straight games to outclass Tereza Martincova 6-4 6-0.
2203 KREJCIKOVA, KERBER ADVANCE
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova handed Astra Sharma a bagel en route to victory on her main draw debut at Flushing Meadows, winning 6-0 6-4.
Elsewhere, three-times Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber came back from 3-5 down in the third set to edge past Dayana Yastremska 3-6 6-4 7-6(3).
2033 CILIC RETIRES WITH INJURY
Marin Cilic, the 2014 champion, retired injured from his first-round match with Philipp Kohlschreiber with the contest locked at two sets each.
Earlier, 11th seed Diego Schwartzman beat Ricardas Berankis 7-5 6-3 6-3 and 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime battled past Evgeny Donskoy 7-6(0) 3-6 7-6(1) 7-6(8) while Brandon Nakashima stunned 19th seed John Isner 7-6(7) 7-6(6) 6-3.
1917 INJURED KONTA WITHDRAWS, LUCKY LOSER RAKHIMOVA IN
Briton Johanna Konta pulled out of the tournament due to a left thigh injury, with Kamilla Rakhimova replacing her in the draw as a lucky loser.
1840 RUBLEV EASES PAST VETERAN KARLOVIC
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev of Russia brushed aside 42-year-old Ivo Karlovic 6-3 7-6(3) 6-3 to reach the second round.
1820 STEPHENS BATTLES PAST KEYS
In a rematch of the 2017 final, American Sloane Stephens held her nerve to beat compatriot Madison Keys 6-3 1-6 7-6(7).
1730 MUGURUZA DOWNS VEKIC
Spanish ninth seed Garbine Muguruza held off a second-set fightback from Croatia’s Donna Vekic to win 7-6(4) 7-6(5).
1645 HALEP SURVIVES GIORGI TEST
Former world number one Simona Halep overcame a tough opener against Italian Camila Giorgi to claim a 6-4 7-6(3) win and set-up a second-round meeting with Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova.
1510 PLAY UNDERWAY
Ninth seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain began her first-round match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic at Louis Armstrong Stadium with the temperature hovering around 25 degrees Celsius (77°F).
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal, Shrivathsa Sridhar and Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ed Osmond and Clare Fallon)
