That’s all from me tonight on day one of this very strange US Open. Thanks a lot for following along and we’ll be back tomorrow.
Anastasia Sevastova defeats Coco Gauff 6-3 5-7 6-4
The star of the last three slams is out. It took a while for the Latvian to get it done. She needed four match points to secure the final game, including a couple awful forehand errors, but she finally used all of her experience to see it out. Gauff has struggled with her serve recently and she has been unable to find her level from January. She will learn.
Coco Gauff 3-6 7-5 *4-5 Anastasia Sevastova: Another routine hold for Sevastova, who herself has lost just 6 points on her serve in the third set, and now Gauff will serve to stay in the match.
Coco Gauff 3-6 7-5 4-4* Anastasia Sevastova: This has been a good third set on Louis Armstrong Stadium, with both players rolling through their service games and producing some of their best levels of the day. Gauff rolls through a love hold to level things up. She has lost 2 points on her serve so far in set 3.
Kevin Mitchell on the real battle of the Brits as Johanna Konta faces Heather Watson tomorrow. It is truly rare to see two Brits face each other on the big stages in either tours.
Here is Kevin Mitchell’s report on Cameron Norrie’s big win over Diego Schwartzman:
There is no shortage of rumours swirling on this very surreal day of tennis. There had been rumours that Daniil Medvedev had been one of the players in isolation. Evidently not:
Update:
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 31, 2020
Spoke to Daniil Medvedev's coach Gilles Cervara, who said Medvedev has "not at all" been affected by the Paire positive test, contrary to what Zverev said on Eurosport.
Cervara said Medvedev's day went ahead normally; he practiced today with Bradley Klahn.#USOpen
Updated
Coco Gauff 3-6 7-5 1-1* Anastasia Sevastova: After the anarchy of the final stages of the second set, both players open the third set with solid, uneventful hold of serves.
Coco Gauff 3-6 7-5 Anastasia Sevastova: Louis Armstrong Stadium is off to a third set! No problem for Gauff on her second attempt to close out the set as she rolled through a love service game to hold. It’s a good thing Gauff loves to battle, because she’s deep into one right now.
Coco Gauff 3-6 *6-5 Anastasia Sevastova: Gauff will attempt to serve out the second set for a second time. This time, Sevastova sprayed a couple of forehand errors to immediately put herself under pressure. Down break point, she moved to the forecourt and dumped a forehand volley into the net. She spent the changeover looking close to tears.
Updated
Coco Gauff 3-6 5-5* Anastasia Sevastova: This time, Gauff blinked. After recovering from 0-30 to 30-30, she threw in a couple of loose unforced errors, spraying a forehand long on break point.
Coco Gauff 3-6 *5-4 Anastasia Sevastova: Coco Gauff hasn’t done much over the past few games, but sometimes not much is enough. She has cut out her errors and putting the ball in court, forcing Sevastova to beat her in these final stages of the second set. So far, Sevastova has responded with a string of unforced errors and Gauff will serve for the second set after three games in a row.
Coco Gauff 3-6 4-4* Anastasia Sevastova: We are officially in a typical Gauff scrap. She holds to level the match again at 4-4 with some electric defence on game point, eventually forcing Sevastova to attempt and miss a low percentage drop shot after chasing down her biggest groundstrokes.
Updated
Q. A lot of very different things about this tournament, obviously. How difficult is it psychologically to adjust to all these, even the little changes, like the towels, Hawk-Eye? Very different from a typical experience, obviously.
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) August 31, 2020
PETRA KVITOVA: Hello, first of all.
Coco Gauff 3-6 *3-4 Anastasia Sevastova: After dropping her serve to fall down a set and a break, Coco Gauff immediately breaks back. What does she have left?
Coco Gauff has struggled badly with her second serve throughout the restart. She has now double faulted 11 times today and things aren’t going well. Across the net, Sevastova has been so disciplined with her shot selection, throwing in numerous slices and dropshots to disrupt the youngster and using all of her experience. Sevastova leads 6-3 3-2*.
Adrian Mannarino, another player who has been isolated from the rest of the tournament after being in close contact with Benoit Paire. He won 6-1 6-4 2-6 6-3 over Lorenzo Sonego earlier today:
“I haven’t been sleeping much. I had no idea if I was gonna be withdrawn from the tournament, if I was gonna be in the tournament and then in which conditions.”
Generation Gauff is not bad at all. A couple of players also born in 2004, Robin Montgomery and Katrina Scott, make their slam main draw debuts this week.
"It's a big stepping stone in my career."
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2020
15-year-old 🇺🇸 Robin Montgomery will make her #USOpen debut tonight vs. Putinseva. pic.twitter.com/epFUCoCAP0
One of the innovations at the US Open this year is the “virtual player box”. There is a screen next to the court and players can interact with members of their entourage who cannot make the trip. Zverev just had a conversation with his brother in English after his match. Rather than entertaining, it was just strange.
As the opening day continues, Benoit Paire is currently locked away in his hotel room in Long Island. He evidently isn’t happy about it:
Benoit Paire: "I'm fine for now I have no symptoms .. I hesitate to tell what is really going on in this Fake Bubble" https://t.co/aeOYzQqSef
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) August 31, 2020
Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev comes through a really tough first round 7-6(2) 5-7 6-3 7-5 against former US Open finalist Kevin Anderson on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Moving on.
Anastasia Sevastova takes the first set 6-3 on Coco Gauff on Louis Armstrong Stadium, sealed with a horror missed overhead from the 16 year-old. It looks like Coco Gauff is going to have to produce one of her typical scraps if she wishes to advance.
Marta Kostyuk fires 22 winners to Daria Kasatkina’s 4 to win 61 62.
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 31, 2020
This is Kostyuk’s 1st MD win at a major since her breakout run to the third round of 2018 AO as a 16yo.
Kostyuk faces either Gauff or Sevastova in 2R. #USOpen
Cameron Norrie:
“It was a great win. I think the first couple of sets, I was just really trying to feel comfortable out there. I was missing a lot of returns... I was real happy that I stayed patient and didn’t snap too much.”
Diego Schwartzman understandably looking miserable after his five set loss to Cameron Norrie.
— Hannah Wilks (@newballsplease) August 31, 2020
After falling down an early break, Coco Gauff breaks back to move up 2-1* against Anastasia Sevastova. Gauff broke back with an incredible point, sprinting up the court and sliding to reach a dropshot, then backpedaling and leaping high into the air to dispatch an overhead. Her atleticism is so pure.
Here is my piece on the adjusted US Open protocols.
Corporate suites in Ashe Stadium are seeded players private locker rooms this year. #9 Diego Schwartzman lost. So a @usopen suite is open! Someone is moving on up! #SuiteLife
— Chris McKendry (@ChrisMcKendry) August 31, 2020
On Louis Armstrong Stadium, Coco Gauff has arrived. She faces 31st seed Anastasia Sevastova, an extremely talented former top 15 player who loves this tournament reached the US Open semi-final in 2018. Sevastova breaks in the opening game for a *1-0 lead.
Daria Kasatkina just hit her first winner of the day about 38 minutes into her match on court 15. Kasatkina is a 23 year-old former top 10 player who was tipped to be one of the best young players of her generation just a few years ago. Instead, the Russian is in the midst of a deep slump, currently ranked 70th and simply struggling to win matches. She is now down 6-1 *3-1 to Marta Kostyuk, who herself is an 18 year old talent who has struggled after the initial breakthrough a couple of years ago. This sport is hard.
Updated
Alexander Zverev is looking good so far as he moves up 2 sets to 1 on Kevin Anderson, the score 7-6 5-7 6-3. The German hit 14 winners to Anderson’s 7. Despite having the most notorious second serve in the game right now, only one double fault. So far, so good.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is clearly not messing about in New York this year. Fresh off his semi-final run at the Western & Southern Open, he rolls through Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2 6-1 6-1 in 98 minutes. One of the players who should have big hopes of a deep run.
A reminder: seeded players and former US Open champions have been allocated corporate suites around Arthur Ashe stadium as their own personal rooms. An Andy Murray sighting:
Famous (and shirtless) spectator for Anderson/Zverev.
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2020
👀 @andy_murray pic.twitter.com/hUn7TeIbeD
Updated
A fun fact about Denis Shapovalov: he moonlights a rapper. I can’t say that I have yet found the strength to watch it myself, but here is his newest single Night Train for those who have:
Denis Shapovalov, who burst onto the scene three years ago at the US Open with a much hyped run to the fourth round, moves on with a good 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-2 win over Sebastian Korda. The Canadian had been playing very well before the break and it sure will be interesting to see how far he can go on these slick courts.
Alexander Zverev is under immense pressure on Ashe, but he saves multiple break points to retain his serve and move up 7-6 5-7 2-1* against Kevin Anderson. Denis Shapovalov is nearing victory - he leads 6-4 4-6 6-3 *4-1 over Sebastian Korda.
Kristina Mladenovic’s opponent, Hailey Baptiste:
Hailey Baptiste didn’t know Kiki had close contact with Paire.
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) August 31, 2020
Hailey said that she herself was in an elevator a couple of times with Paire and that she feels a lot of other players were around him.
That was a very nice glass of red wine, but now I am back and just in time to witness what could be a long one on Arthur Ashe Stadium as 2017 US Open finalist Kevin Anderson levels Alexander Zverev at one set all, 6-7 7-5.
Elsewhere, Denis Shapovalov leads youngster Sebastian Korda 6-4 4-6 6-3 *2-1.
Cam Norrie beats Diego Schwartzman 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 5-7
What a comeback! From losing the first two sets, Norrie has managed to beat the ailing Argentine. The final set was pretty low quality but the Briton will not mind having battled his way to victory. Norrie gets three match points but loses the first two. He holds his nerve in the end as ninth Schwarztman uses his last ounce of energy to tamely hit the ball into the net.
Updated
Norrie is making the most of his opponent’s physical limitations at the moment, brushing him aside to love, an incredible feat considering how dire his service games have been. 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 *5-6
Norrie hits the ball into the net to gift match point and the Briton lets out an almighty scream. He makes amends by taking the game to deuce, helped by Schwartzman looking dead on his feet. The Argentine is swinging from the hip and avoiding all leg movement, resulting in him gifting Norrie advantage but he quickly brings it back to deuce. Norrie gets another shot and takes the break. 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 5-5*
The game goes to deuce, which is about the best Norrie can hope for off his own serve at the moment. Schwartzman saves a game point as Norrie finds the net. Then the Argentine goes down after losing the next point, he gets up, only to see Norrie smash a winner from the net. 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 *5-4
The physio does his work and it pays off for Schwartzman who manages to hold his serve, a rare thing in this match. Now just needs one more game to progress. 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 5-3*
Schwartzman has called for the physio, just to add to the drama.
Another service game from Norrie which he will want to forget as Schwarzman breezes to 0:40. There is no coming back from that and Argentine completes the job with a fine return. 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 *4-3
Norrie seems happier to receive the serve at the moment, easing to 0:30. Sadly, he then misses the target a couple of times by sending the ball wide. A fine rally ends with Schwartzman sprinting to the net to tap one over but he slips and sends his shot well wide. Break point No 50 of the match is won by Norrie as he takes the game. What a silly match this is. 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 3-3*
A bad game for Norrie who is broken by Schwartzman to take the lead in the final set. Norrie’s serve is looking incredible vulnerable here and he needs to up to up his game. He survives two break points but the third does for him as he eventually thrashes one long. 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 *3-2
Updated
Schwartzman hits a big forehand to level things up at 30:30 and a mishit from Norrie loops long to put him a point away from the win but the Argentine then smashes a backhand into the net for even more deuce action. A long rally ends with Norrie hitting the net from the baseline to give the game to Schwartzman 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 2-2*
Another game goes to deuce as both men struggle to hold serve at this crucial point int he match. Schwarztman gives Norrie the advantage with a cross-court backhand which lands just out, allowing his opponent to complete the job with an ace. 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 *1-2
Tumaini has wandered off for a sandwich and a large glass of red (I think he has to write an article), which means I will be here for a while wishing I had a sandwich and a large glass of red. In more pressing matters, Norrie has broken straight back to level things up in the fifth. 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 1-1*
Cameron Norrie battled hard, but after an epic game he loses his serve to open the fifth set. In total, Norrie courageously saved six break points with three aces down the T, an unreturned lefty slider out wide, an excellent low backhand volley and a fizzing backhand down the line. But he just could not find the court at deuce and fell on the seventh. This could be the moment momentum changes. Schwartzman leads 6-3 6-4 2-6 1-6 *1-0.
Petra Kvitova marches into the second round with a 6-3 6-2 win over Irina-Camelia Begu. If she can hit the ground running on these fast courts, watch out.
Mladenovic: 'I'm allowed to play my match, literally allowed to do nothing else...I'm not allowed to do fitness, any public bubble thing. I'm not allowed to do anything anymore. I'm completely alone with my brother/coach. So it's literally a bubble in a bubble.'
— Ravi Ubha (@raviubha) August 31, 2020
If Cameron Norrie can pull this off, it would comfortably be the biggest win of her career. He has only ever beaten 3 top 20 players and none at a slam, his biggest ever victory being No 10 John Isner. At a slam and with so much on the line against No 13 Schwartzman, this would outdo them all.
That was a bit of a sad performance at the end of the fourth set from Diego Schwartzman, who threw in two double faults and then sprayed a forehand error on set points to drop his third service game of the set.
His stats in that set are appalling: 5 winners and 16 unforced errors. We’re off to a decider after a really impressive recovery from Norrie. 3-6 4-6 6-2 6-1.
Goodness. This has been so emphatic from Norrie, who continues to control the baseline while limiting his errors. He is up to a 5-1* lead in the fourth set, having won 9 of the last 10 games from 2-2 in the third. Schwartzman is making so many errors right now and he looks like he is already let this set go. It looks like we are heading for a fifth set. 3-6 4-6 6-2 5-1*.
Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic confirms that she has been isolated from the rest of the players after being identified as a close contact of Benoit Paire: “I’m allowed to play my match, I’m literally not allowed to do anything else.”
Petra Kvitova, who lost early in the Western & Southern Open but should really love these fast courts, leads Irina Begu 6-3 0-2.
Elsewhere, we have our first upset: 72-ranked Egor Gerasimov defeats 18th seed Dusan Lajovic 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-4.
This is an excellent effort from Norrie, who swept into the net and then dispatched a slick backhand volley to move up *2-1 in the fourth set. Early days still, but as Norrie has tightened up his errors and looks extremely focused, this has frankly been a terrible run of form by Schwartzman. The score is now 3-6 4-6 6-2 *2-1 as Norrie continues his attempts to mount a comeback.
Updated
27th seed Borna Coric, who was Benoit Paire’s opponent in his retirement during the Winston & Southern Open and Grigor Dimitrov’s opponent when the Bulgarian contracted coronavirus during the ill-fated Adria tour, moves on with a 7-5 6-3 6-1 win over Pablo Andujar.
Updated
What looked like Karolina Pliskova hitting balls into an empty Arthur Ashe stadium after winning, was actually her aiming for some targets in the upper level. Every winner will get 3 attempts. $1000 donated to the USTA’s Rally to Rebuild campaign if you hit a target. #USOpen
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) August 31, 2020
We’re into a fourth set on court 5 after Norrie very easily swept up the third. He finished with 12 winners and 5 unforced errors, which is excellent and an enormous improvement. Can he continue to compete at this level and how long will Schwartzman help his cause with uncharacteristic errors? 3-6 4-6 6-2 *0-1.
I’m at the #USOpen. These two pictures sum up the experience—a vast feeling of emptiness—more than any.
— Ed McGrogan (@EdMcGrogan) August 31, 2020
Varvara Gracheva, after her first-round loss, and Paula Badosa, with coach, after her win.
More to come on a disorienting Day 1, and from Flushing Meadows. pic.twitter.com/f5nGC4wHr9
Another dimension of this tournament is that the ATP and WTA rankings are currently semi-frozen. Normally, players defend the points earnt from a year ago at each tournament, but last year’s points will not be removed from their rankings until 2021. Players can only gain points if they better their efforts from last year.
Karolina Pliskova wins 31 points out of 38 points from *4-4 15-40 in set-1, d. Kalinina 6-4 6-0
— Diego Barbiani (@Diego_Barbiani) August 31, 2020
-- needs QFs to gain points in her ranking
Diego Schwartzman looks rattled. He is spraying numerous errors now and another forehand mistake on break point offers Norrie a double break. The Brit will attempt to serve out the set at 3-6 4-6 *5-2. A lifeline, perhaps.
Karolina Pliskova kicks off another go at winning her first slam title in style, beating Anhelina Kalinina 6-4 6-0. Exactly what she needed after an early loss in these same courts last week in the Western & Southern Open.
Over on Ashe, Karolina Pliskova is rolling. She leads 6-4 5-0 and a game away from her first win in six months.
Updated
Some drama and hope for Norrie on court five. In yet another long Schwartzman service game, the Argentine was seething after Norrie didn’t receive a code violation for some bad language, then again when he received a time violation after taking too long between points. Distracted, Schwartzman sprayed a forehand error on break point to hand Norrie a *3-2 lead in the third set. Two sets down, but fighting.
First men's winner of the 2020 #USOpen: Juan Ignacio Londero (d. Donskoy)
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) August 31, 2020
Yep. On the positive side, they will be $60k richer.
Seeing these results and trickle and sparing an extra thought for those on the short end. This is a long way to travel (during COVID) and a lot of time to spend under austere conditions in a bubble - only to lose before lunchtime on the first Monday...
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) August 31, 2020
Get your bubble on. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/kPEtjQKiil
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2020
A solid first set from Karolina Pliskova over on Ashe, who leads 6-4 on Kalinina.
Meanwhile, that was a really encouraging return to competition for Angelique Kerber, who moved on 6-4 6-4 against the tricky Ajla Tomljanovic. We’ll see if Kerber can play herself into form after six months.
After all of the chances Norrie created in return games towards the end of the second set, Diego Schwartzman holds on to take a 6-3 6-4 lead over the Brit. It is tough to see a way back for Norrie, but he will certainly try.
Once again, Cameron Norrie puts Schwartzman under immense pressure but then balked on a big point. At 30-30, in the middle of a neutral rally, Norrie sprayed a foehand well out before streaming in disgust. With an ace on game point, the Argentine held.
Cameron Norrie is giving Schwartzman a lot of grief in this second set, pushing him to multiple deuces in a tough seventh game. However, Schwartzman eventually secured another hold to lead 6-3 4-3. The Brit will need to be careful here...
We have our first winner of the day. 12th seed and last year’s French Open finalist, 20 year old Marketa Vondrousova, beats Greet Minnen 6-1 6-4. Minnen tossed her racquet to her chair after missing an easy volley on match point, only to remember that she needed to collect it for the post-match “racquet tap”.
On Ashe, women’s top seed Karolina Pliskova is about to take the court against Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine. This is clearly a big opportunity for the 2016 US Open finalist and former No 1, who is the only European top 10 player to make the trip to New York and only 1 of 4 top 10 players in total.
Pliskova continues to chase her first slam despite four years of consistently reaching the final stages of big tournaments. Still, she probably isn’t a big fan of these new fast courts in Flushing Meadoes.
Cameron Norrie can never be accused of not trying hard enough. After Diego Schwartzman consolidated his lead by rolling up to 6-3 2-0, winning 6 of the prior 7 games, Norrie just ground out a long return game to push the second set back on serve. As Schwartzman’s final forehand flew long, Norrie punctuated the break-back with a roar of ‘c’mon’. We’ll see what he can do.
Meanwhile on Armstrong, Angelique Kerber has taken the first set 6-4 on Ajla Tomljanovic.
So much of this tournament is hard to call because we just don’t know what form players are in. Kerber hasn’t competed since the Australian Open in January, over 7 months ago, and she didn’t enter the Western & Southern Open that preceded this event.
On one hand, the former No 1 and 2016 US Open champion has fallen all the way down to 23rd and she has struggled over the past year. On the other hand, she has rehired coach Torben Beltz, with whom she reached No 1 in 2016, she loves fast courts and this break may have been precisely what she needed to escape her slump. Your guess is as good as mine in regards to how she fares this week.
Updated
Diego Schwartzman takes the first set 6-3 on Cameron Norrie. After a tough start, the Argentine rolled through the second half of the set, winning four of the last five games.
Norrie hit just 3 winners and 17 unforced errors, which clearly isn’t good enough against a top 15 player. Those stats are partially explained by numerous long rallies ending in errors, but Norrie still cannot afford to give away so many free points.
Updated
Needless to say, people are not happy about the decision to keep players in the draw who came in contact with Paire. Here is a statement from Ellen Perez, a doubles entrant who was also hoping to make the singles draw:
Here’s my thoughts on the recent US Open situation: pic.twitter.com/Y7XxBkfKjk
— Ellen Perez (@EllenPerez95) August 31, 2020
Diego Schwartzman currently leads Cameron Norrie 5-3 after breaking in a long, gruelling 2-2 game before twice holding serve. Norrie is going to need to find more forehands and the courage to take his favourite shot on as Schwartzman just looks to be finding a rhythm and he is striking the ball beautifully. After a slick crosscourt forehand winner from the Argentine, he held after forcing a Norrie backhand error.
Here is tournament director Stacey Allaster on recent events.
Stacey Allaster confirms that Paire’s close contacts will compete: “Contact tracing has been executed, decisions have been made and we're continuing on to have those individuals in the competition based on the medical science and all of those facts.” pic.twitter.com/ldfzalcug9
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) August 31, 2020
The news has taken a further turn this morning. Paire is one of the most sociable players and so numerous other players have been deemed his close contacts. Although they were supposed to be withdrawn from the tournament, the USTA has instead decided to isolate them from other players. They will be tested daily, they will have to remain in their hotel rooms at all times aside from practice. In an interview with l’Equipe, Edouard Roger-Vasselin said: “To sum up, we are in the bubble of the bubble.”
It is a complete departure from the US Open’s original protocols, which stated that close contacts would have to quarantine for 14 days. Nobody knows if any of these players will eventually fail a test themselves. 30th seed Kiki Mladenovic, one of the rumored isolated players, is currently competing now on court 17 against US wildcard Hailey Baptiste. She leads 5-3.
As play begins across the grounds, the big news on the eve of the tournament was Frenchman Benoit Paire testing positive for coronavirus and being withdrawn from the tournament. Here is the story by Kevin Mitchell last night.
Updated
Over on court 5, Diego Schwartzman and Britain’s Cam Norrie have traded breaks with the score at 2-2.
This will be an incredibly tough matchup for the Brit, particularly because Schwartzman does so much of what Norrie does but better. Norrie is a fast and durable retriever with an excellent heavy topspin forehand, but Schwartzman can match him physically with more firepower and some of the best returning in the world. These rallies are already long and look exhausting, and Norrie will have to find away to control them.
Here is the order of play on the top courts of this opening day of action. Karolina Pliskova, Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka, Angie Kerber and Coco Gauff will be competing on those empty, echoing stadium courts. Kyle Edmund will play later against Alexander Bublik.
It's a big day in the Big Apple. 🍎
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 31, 2020
Who's ready for Day 1 of the @USOpen?#USOpen pic.twitter.com/J7u7T3RSCg
Preamble
Hello! Welcome to our coverage on day one of this very surreal 2020 US Open in the controlled environment of a crowd-less Flushing Meadows. As usual, there is a heck of a lot going on across the grounds during the opening rounds but we’ll kick things off today with a particular focus on Cameron Norrie’s incredibly tough first round against 9th seed Diego Schwartzman.
Updated
