Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday launched the defense of her US Open crown with victory, while Novak Djokovic made a successful start to his latest bid for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title, but a raging Daniil Medvedev exited.
World No. 1 Sabalenka, bidding to become the first woman to claim back-to-back US Open titles since Serena Williams completed a hat-trick of wins in 2014, was made to work hard en route to a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova.
Masarova, ranked 108th in the world, pushed Sabalenka out of her comfort zone with a gutsy performance on the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s main Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Photo: AP
“Happy to get this win and happy to be in the second round. I feel like I didn’t start my best in the first games, but then I found my rhythm,” said Sabalenka, who is to face unseeded Russian Polina Kudermetova.
While Sabalenka advanced safely, Danish 14th seed Clara Tauson tumbled out to Alexandra Eala.
Eala, 20, became the first player from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam singles match with a thrilling 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13/11) win, battling back from a 5-1 deficit in the final set.
“I’m super over the moon with what I was able to do today, especially coming back in the third,” Eala said. “It’s a very special win for me.”
Another player from Southeast Asia — Indonesia’s Janice Tjen — also caused an upset, ousting Russian 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
“I feel proud to be able to do this for my country,” said Tjen, the first Indonesian since Angelique Widjaja in 2004 to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam singles event.
Tjen, ranked 149th in the world, is to face Britain’s Emma Raducanu in the second round.
Raducanu, who made history at Flushing Meadows in 2021 by becoming the first qualifier to lift a Grand Slam title, clinched her first US Open match win since that memorable triumph with a 6-1, 6-2 drubbing of Japan’s Ena Shibahara.
“I wanted to win a match here really bad,” Raducanu said. “It’s been four years and it’s a very special tournament for me.”
With men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner and rival Carlos Alcaraz not opening their campaigns until yesterday and today, all eyes were on the veteran Serbian star Djokovic in Sunday’s night session.
The 38-year-old showed flashes of brilliance in a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 win against his unseeded 19-year-old American opponent Learner Tien.
Djokovic raced through the first set, but was then forced to save a set point in the second after Tien grew in confidence.
A lengthy medical timeout to treat what looked like a blister on his right foot helped revive Djokovic and he pulled away to wrap up victory in 2 hours, 25 minutes.
“I still have the flair, I still have the drive and you guys give me the energy,” Djokovic told the crowd. “Hopefully, I can keep it going.”
The final game of the opening day saw a chaotic victory for France’s Benjamin Bonzi over Russian 13th seed Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion.
Amid extraordinary scenes at the end of the third set, play was held up for more than six minutes as Bonzi waited to serve on match point.
It followed a tirade by Medvedev against chair umpire Greg Allensworth after the official re-awarded Bonzi a first serve when a photographer mistakenly walked onto the court.
With Medvedev egging the crowd on to voice their displeasure, Bonzi lost the set and Medvedev won the fourth to square the match.
Bonzi recovered in the fifth to close out a 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 0-6, 6-4 win in 3 hours, 45 minutes.
“It was crazy,” Bonzi said. “The energy was wild. Thanks to all those who were booing, that gave me energy in the fifth.”
Fourth seed Taylor Fritz and sixth seed Ben Shelton eased into the second round.
Fritz, last year’s beaten finalist, won 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 against unseeded compatriot Emilio Nava.
Shelton had a similarly comfortable 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse.
Shelton and Fritz are spearheading US hopes of a first Grand Slam men’s singles title since Andy Roddick’s victory at the 2003 US Open.
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style. Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy’s fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to today’s (Taipei time) semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy — who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded US lineup during the pool phase — kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6
Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s second-youngest race winner with a composed drive to victory for Mercedes in an eventful Chinese Grand Prix yesterday. The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole position starter and briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the start, but retook it soon after and was in control after that. “We did it! We did it!” Antonelli shouted to his team on the radio amid laughs and whoops. It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Lewis Hamilton was
RSS