World primary Jannik Sinner started his bid for back-to-back U.S. Open titles with an emphatic victory on Tuesday (August 26, 2025) as girls’s draw favorite Iga Swiatek swept into the second spherical.
Italian star Sinner waltzed to a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 win over Czech world quantity 89 Vit Kopriva, needing simply 1 hour 38 minutes to advance to the subsequent spherical.
“It feels nice to be again right here. Clearly it’s a really particular event,” mentioned Sinner, who’s making an attempt to turn out to be the primary man to repeat as US Open champion since Roger Federer received 5 in a row from 2004-2008.
Not actually open: Editorial on tennis and the U.S. Open
Sinner, 24, faces Alexei Popyrin within the third spherical.
“I’m very comfortable that I’m wholesome once more,” mentioned Sinner, who was compelled to retire from final week’s Cincinnati Open closing in opposition to Carlos Alcaraz.
“I’ve superb recollections (from final yr). Yearly is totally different. You come right here beginning this event hopefully in the absolute best approach, which I did,” he added.
Sinner’s blistering begin on the Arthur Ashe Stadium courtroom was matched by Poland’s Swiatek, who was equally emphatic in a 6-1, 6-2 rout of Colombia’s Emiliana Arango.
The 24-year-old from Poland was at all times in management in opposition to 84th-ranked Arango, overwhelming the Colombian with some highly effective groundstrokes combined with some deft work on the internet.
The win makes Swiatek the primary girl in historical past to win 65 consecutive WTA-level first-round matches, surpassing Monica Seles’ earlier file of 64.
But Swiatek’s efficiency was relegated to a footnote in her post-match press convention, the place information of pop star Taylor Swift’s engagement to NFL participant Travis Kelce dominated the questions.
‘Swiftie’ Swiatek
Swiatek is a completely paid-up “Swiftie” — the nickname given to Swift’s hundreds of thousands of fanatical followers — and couldn’t cover her delight at studying of the singer’s looming nuptials.
“I’m simply comfortable for her, as a result of she deserves one of the best,” Swiatek mentioned.
The six-time Grand Slam singles champion — a winner in New York in 2022 — will face the Netherlands’ Suzan Lamens within the second spherical.
But whereas Sinner and Swiatek strolled into the second spherical, 2023 girls’s singles champion Coco Gauff was compelled to claw her well beyond Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in a gruelling late night time battle that lasted slightly below three hours.
Gauff racked up 59 unforced errors, 10 double faults and suffered six breaks of serve earlier than lastly prevailing 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 7-5 in opposition to Tomljanovic, ranked 79th on the planet.
“It wasn’t one of the best however I’m comfortable to get via to the subsequent spherical,” mentioned Gauff, who admitted she had been drained by an unsettled build-up to the event.
Gauff, who received her second profession Grand Slam on the French Open earlier this season, overhauled her teaching staff on the eve of the US Open in an effort to revamp her service sport.
“Actually it’s been actually robust, mentally exhausting,” Gauff mentioned. “However I’m making an attempt. It wasn’t one of the best at present, but it surely was an enchancment on final week.”
Osaka goes via
Whereas Gauff laboured to victory, two-time former champion Naomi Osaka had no such issue in dispatching Belgium’s Inexperienced Minnen 6-3, 6-4.
The Japanese former world primary revelled in returning to a venue that she regards as a house from dwelling.
“At any time when I play right here the ambiance seems like dwelling, and it’s dwelling for me,” mentioned Osaka, who’s seeded twenty third and can subsequent face American Hailey Baptiste.
Males’s third seed Alexander Zverev overcame Alejandro Tabilo of Chile in straight units in his opening match.
Zverev averted a repeat of his first-round exit at Wimbledon final month as he beat the 122nd-ranked Tabilo 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in a contest that rolled over into the early hours of Wednesday.
The German, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, saved a set level within the second set earlier than closing out victory with a break within the closing sport of the match.
Revealed – August 27, 2025 01:03 pm IST
