Sonay Kartal vowed to come back stronger after her 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 defeat by the 18th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round of the US Open after struggling with excruciating full-body cramps in warm conditions on Tuesday afternoon in New York.
For much of her main‑draw debut at the US Open, Kartal battled admirably, showing her problem‑solving abilities by recovering from a tough opening set to force a decider. But towards the end of the second set Kartal began to struggle physically and by early in the final set she was cramping all over her body.
The match took another turn deep in the final set as Haddad Maia also began to struggle, culminating in the Brazilian patting serves into the court and throwing in an underarm serve in a dramatic final game.
“It’s frustrating,” Kartal said. “You can see her at the other end and she had a calf thing or a hamstring or something went. So it made it even tougher. But I think at that point you’re just in so much pain, you go into the dark places to try and get through. I wasn’t thinking about her or anything. I was just thinking: ‘I’m going to finish the match. I’m not going to call it quits.’”
Asked exactly where she was cramping, Kartal said: “Where wasn’t I feeling it? We had calves, we had quads, we had hamstrings, and we had the fingers [clamped down] on the tennis racket. You feel helpless on court. My body didn’t let me finish it how I wanted to feel it.”
Katie Boulter, meanwhile, stressed the need get to the bottom of her serving issues after her difficult run of form continued with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat against the 27th seed Marta Kostyuk.
“I’ve reached a point now that something needs to change,” Boulter said. “It’s not that I haven’t been doing anything to change it, but something different needs to happen for me to be able to mentally step up to the line and be ready. I feel like I’m doing a decent job on ball three considering the serves that I’m putting in the court.”
Boulter has lost six of her past seven matches, dating back to a torrid second-round defeat at Wimbledon against Solana Sierra, a lucky loser. Boulter, who struck eight double faults with many occurring on key points, said considerable effort has already gone into her serve.
“In terms of rhythm, how long I’ve struggled with it, I’ve had multiple shoulder injuries. I’ve had multiple arm injuries. I’m not a clean slate going into my career. I’ve had multiple things that have changed over time, my service motion, my service action, everything because of that. So, of course I have to adapt, and that’s one of the biggest things in tennis, so I need to get better at that.”
The tough losses continued for British players as Fran Jones, a qualifier, was defeated 6-0, 7-5 by Eva Lys and despite putting up a strong fight, Billy Harris was beaten 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-4 by the 25th seed, Felix Auger Aliassime.
On a day during which Iga Swiatek continued her tremendous recent form with a ruthless first-round win, the tournament favourite was most satisfied with developments away from the court.
Moments after she departed Arthur Ashe Stadium with her 6-1, 6-2 win against Emiliana Arango, before they could discuss her performance at length, members of Swiatek’s team told her that Taylor Swift, her favourite artist, had announced her engagement to Travis Kelce. “She posted when I finished,” Swiatek said, smiling. “Maybe that’s not a coincidence. I don’t know.”
The subject of Swift took up nearly half of Swiatek’s post-match press conference and, when a journalist attempted to change the subject to tennis, Swiatek jokingly pretended to stand up and leave.
Those scenes are relevant to her success on court. Not only is Swiatek playing quality tennis, she appears to be relaxed and in a positive frame of mind away from it. Her victories at Wimbledon and Cincinnati imbued her with confidence going into the final grand slam tournament of the season.
“Every year is kind of tough, because New York is just so loud, you know, and it’s hard to find that balance off the court,” Swiatek said. “But I’ve got to say I’m probably good at it compared to other players, so I’m really trying to be in my bubble.
“The comfort level, it’s hard to describe, because the tournament is so long. You basically are here for three weeks. So obviously it’s not going to be the same every day. I feel pretty happy with my performance in Cincinnati and trying to get, you know, some confidence from that. There are a lot of positive vibes in the team, so it’s all good.”
Swiatek was joined in the second round by another tournament favourite at Flushing Meadows as Jannik Sinner, the men’s top seed, defeated Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 to advance with ease. Sinner’s last competitive appearance turned into a painful afternoon as he was forced to retire in the first set of the Cincinnati Open final against his great rival Carlos Alcaraz because of illness. After resting for a week, the world No 1 looked in fine form at the beginning of his title defence.
