Two sets, no sparkle
Aryna Sabalenka opened her tournament last night. The world No 1 beat Colombia’s Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows.
It was far from clean. Sabalenka hit 32 winners and 23 unforced errors. She took control of the first set by rattling off four straight games. Osorio coughed up five double faults in her first two service games.
The second set was tighter. Osorio led 4-3 and had two break points. Sabalenka saved both. She then punished her opponent’s ninth double fault to break for 5-4 before serving it out.
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Two streaks still alive
That win stretched Sabalenka’s unbeaten run at the US Open to 14 matches. She is chasing a third straight crown in New York.
It also extended her opening-round Grand Slam winning streak to 24. That’s consistency that jars with her season: the Belarusian has not reached a final since her Miami triumph in March.
“She played really well. She fought, she really pushed,” Sabalenka said after the match. “I just tried to stay as aggressive as possible. Sometimes I had to step back just to get the ball back in play and then move forward again.”
In round two, she will face Russian qualifier Polina Iatcenko.
Two seeds gone on Monday
The women’s draw has already lost two seeds in the day session. Taylor Townsend dispatched 20th seed Maja Chwalinska of Poland in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, with five breaks to her name. A Roland-Garros finalist, Chwalinska has now lost five of her last six matches since Paris.
Spain’s Cristina Bucsa also knocked out Czech 28th seed Sara Bejlek in three sets. Amanda Anisimova, meanwhile, marked her 25th birthday with a 6-1, 6-3 win over fellow American Ashlyn Krueger, hitting 25 winners and saving 10 of 11 break points.
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