Agencies
New York
No.1 seed Iga Swiatek kicked off her title defence at the US Open with a 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson in 58 minutes on Monday.
The result was Swiatek’s third win in as many meetings with No.86-ranked Peterson, who was coming off a quarterfinal showing in last week’s Chicago WTA 125 event.
Swiatek extended her 2023 record to 54-9; ahead of the US Open, she claimed a title on home soil in Warsaw before back-to-back semifinal runs in Montreal and Cincinnati.
The World No.1 will next face Daria Saville, who was equally impressive in dismissing Wimbledon junior champion Clervie Ngounoue 6-0, 6-2 in 73 minutes. Former World No.20 Saville made her comeback from an ACL injury in June after being sidelined for nine months.
Rune heads for exit after complaining about court 5
Holger Rune was left to regret tweeting a map of the US Open site to point spectators towards his first-round match.
The Dane now needs directions to the exit after crashing out in four sets to Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena.
Rune, seeded fourth, was clearly miffed at being shunted away on one of Flushing Meadows’ tiny outside courts and sarcastically wrote “in case you can find Court 5, this is where I play my first match Monday.” The court is crammed in between the Arthur Ashe and Grandstand Stadiums, with pathways on either side where spectators can wander past.
And Rune’s cheeky tweet backfired as hundreds swarmed around the court, craning their necks and standing on benches, to see the 20-year-old slip to defeat.
To rub salt in the wound, Rune even complained to the umpire about one noisy fan before eventually going down 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-2.
Also on Monday, Dominic Thiem picked up his first win at Flushing Meadows since he won the title in 2020. The 29-year-old Austrian, a former world number three beat 25th seed Alexander Bublik 6-3 6-2 6-4.
Early opening round results
Men’s Singles:
Adrian Mannarino (FRA x22) bt Yosuke Watanuki (JPN) 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 7-5
Fabian Marozsan (HUN) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA) 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (1/7), 6-2
Sebastian Ofner (AUT) bt Nuno Borges (POR) 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4
Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ARG) bt Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 2-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP x21) bt Marcos Giron (USA) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
Dominic Thiem (AUT) bt Alexander Bublik (KAZ x25) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Ben Shelton (USA) bt Pedro Cachín (ARG) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Women Singles
Iga Swiatek (POL x1) bt Rebecca Peterson (SWE) 6-0, 6-1
Daria Saville (AUS) bt Clervie Ngounoue (USA) 6-0, 6-2
Lauren Davis (USA) bt Danka Kovinic (MNE) 6-2, 6-2
Danielle Collins (USA) bt Linda Fruhvirtová (CZE) 6-2, 6-0
Victoria Azarenka (BLR x18) bt Fiona Ferro (FRA) 6-1, 6-2
Belinda Bencic (SUI x15) bt Kamilla Rakhimova (RUS) 6-2, 6-4
Karolína Muchova (CZE x10) bt Storm Sanders (AUS) 6-4, 6-0
Magdalena Frech (POL) bt Emma Navarro (USA) 7-6 (12/10), 1-6, 6-2
Taylor Townsend (USA) bt Varvara Gracheva (FRA) 6-4, 6-2
Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) bt Kateryna Baindl (UKR) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Rebeka Masarova (ESP) bt Maria Sakkari (GRE x8) 6-4, 6-4.
