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Monday, August 31, 2026

US.2- In a New York Minute


What goes around comes back around again?










=DAY 2 NOTES=
...in tennis, in New York or otherwise, everything can change -- for the good, or the bad -- in a virtual minute.

While this weekend's title winner in Monterrey, Diane Parry, posted a 1st Round win on Day 2, the same wasn't able to be said for a few other stars of the hard court summer.

Toronto semifinalist Sara Bejlek, the #28 seed, became the second seeded Czech to fall in New York, losing to Cristina Bucsa, 7-5/4-6/6-1.

Bucsa arrived carrying the weight of quite a few unproductive months, as well as the pressure to defend her Round of 16 U.S. Open points from a year ago. Since claiming her maiden tour singles title in Merida in March, Bucsa had gone just 3-10.

The Spaniard's season record shows that she went 6-0 in Merida, but even with the win today she's but 4-15 everywhere else.



Meanwhile, this summer in Memphis, 16-year old Kristina Liutova claimed the singles title in her first tour-level MD appearance. Last week, the Hordette played her way through qualiying to reach her first career slam MD.

Facing off with fellow qualifier Zheng Qinwen today, the teenager took the 1st set but saw the Chinese star-on-the-rebound rally to win 4-6/6-3/6-1. It's Zheng's first MD win in a major since the 2025 Roland Garros, and her first at the U.S. Open since her second of consecutive QF runs in 2023-24.



Zheng knows all about the capricious whims of the Tennis Gods. Remember, it wasn't that long ago that *she* was the new star preparing to "take over" the WTA.

Zheng had elbow surgery late in 2025 and has had a difficult time picking up any momentum since her return. Still, she *has* had her best moments this season in some of the bigger events, reaching a Round of 16 in Miami and 3rd Rounds in a trio of other 1000s (Doha, Madrid and Rome). Her lone QF came in the Athens 250 this summer.

Combined with her three qualifying wins, Zheng is now on a four-match winning streak, her best stretch since the injury and her longest run since she reached the RG QF last year (she went just 3-3 after that, ending her season early after playing just one event following Wimbledon).

While one day's champion can suddenly be eclipsed in the blink of an eye (just over the last few years, see the likes of slam winners Raducanu, Andreescu and Kenin), the reverse can also be true. If Zheng *is* finally back to form, or close to it, by this time next year she could be back in the mix for big titles.

Remember, before the injury she was a slam and WTAF finalist, Olympic Gold medal winner, and world #4 who clocked eleven Top 10 wins from 2022-25, including a pair of victories over two different #1-ranked played (including Swiatek on the terre battue, a loss after which the Pole *still* has never quite been the same).

Meanwhile, the kid held her own, and will be back...



...on the same aforementioned theme, #20-seeded Maja Chwalinska became a sudden star during her run to the RG final in Paris this spring. Unfortunately, then she went to Wimbledon, fell and hurt herself on MP, then went on to lose in the 1st Round. She's still not yet back to anything resembling her spring form.

It took Chwalinska about two and a half months to record her first post-RG win, over Bucsa in Cincinnati a few weeks ago. She's still looking for her second.

Today the Pole fell 6-2/6-3 to Taylor Townsend, falling to 1-5 since Paris with back-to-back 1st Round exits in majors.

...Prague champion Lilli Tagger often gives off "future star" vibes. Still, though, the 18-year old Austrian is a work in progress. She dropped four straight matches this summer, and lost six of seven, part of a 4-9 stretch *before* her maiden WTA title run. Since that win in Prague in late July, Tagger came into this major having not won another MD match, falling to Talia Gibson and Yuliia Starodubtseva this summer in Cincinnati and Monterrey, respectively.

Without a slam MD win under her career belt, Tagger burst out of the gate today vs. Tamara Korpatsch. She led 6-0/4-0 before Korpatch managed to survive the storm and pull herself back into the match. The German won five straight games, and had a pair of BP/SP at 6-5.

But while Tagger sometimes experiences bad stretches in this early part of her career, she's also shown a great ability to put everything together at the end of a match and revert to "beast mode" by ripping off five, six and sometimes double-digit points in a row to close out matches. It happened again today.

Tagger trailed 4-1 in the 2nd set TB, then didn't lose another point, sweeping the final half dozen to take the breaker and record her first career MD win in a major, 6-0/7-6(4).



...the two late afternoon matches from Sunday that were suspended and were to resume today ultimately brought some drama to the table.

#26 Emma Navarro had ralled from 3-1 down in the 1st set to take it in a TB, and led Lois Boisson 4-2 in the 2nd when rain brought an end to things for the day. Almost to the finish line, but still actually a fair distance away, Navarro couldn't close out the match when things picked up again on Day 2. She served for the win at 5-4, but the Pastry got the break and forced another breaker. Boisson won it 7-1.

This is a case where sometimes the player who let the lead slip goes on to rue the weather, its clipping of her momentum and her own inability to reclaim it. But Navarro avoided that fate, taking control again in the 3rd to win 7-6(6)/6-7(1)/6-3.

Navarro reached her lone major SF two years ago in New York.

In the other resumed contest, Petra Marcinko wasn't as fortunate.

On Sunday, the Croatian won the 1st set and then staged a comeback from 5-3 down in the 2nd set to hold a MP at 6-5. But Aussie Kimberly Birrell saved it and held to force a TB. They were tied 3-3 when the match was called for the day.

When they returned today, it was Birrell who rose to the top, winning four of five points to take a 7-4 TB and then going on to take the match 3-6/7-6(4)/6-3.



...maybe Sloane Stephens would have gotten a MD pass from the USTA without her "proving" something on hard courts this summer. After all, Venus Williams received a wild card despite not winning a match for over a year. But, despite being a former U.S. Open champion, Stephens isn't *Venus* and all that goes with that.

At 33, nearly a decade past her title run in New York in 2017, surely Stephens' mini-uptick in results this summer didn't hurt her cause.

In 2025, Stephens missed most of the season with a stress fracture in her foot that required surgery, playing just six matches (going 0-6). When she opened 2026 with a loss in her first match, it was her 13th consecutive defeat going back to the 2024 season. At the end of July she was ranked outside the Top 300, and she arrived in Toronto sporting an 11-14 season mark, hardly numbers worthy of being gifted a wild card into Flushing Meadows.

But then Stephens managed to hit a good spot, her first in quite a quite, going 4-2 while posting multiple wins (w/ 2r and 3r finishes in Toronto and Cincinnati) in consecutive tournaments for the first time in more than two years.

After getting a Cincy win over Anastasia Potapova, her first Top 30 victory since '24, Stephens managed to threaten Marta Kostyuk, as well. Stephens fell to the Ukrainian 7-5/7-5, but had led 3-1 in the 1st set (and was up 40/15 while trying to hold to force a TB, only to lose four straight points) and later had a chance to serve out the 2nd set at 5-4. Still, her 3rd Round result wasn't just Stephens' best in a 1000 event since Madrid '24, but her best in *any* event in '26, during which her best finish had been a collection of five 2nd Round finishes.

On the same day that Stephens fell to Kostyuk it was announced that the former champion had received one of the U.S. Open's MD wild cards, allowing her to head to New York knowing she wouldn't be absent from the MD for a second straight year.

Today, Stephens' 6-4/6-1 win over Clara Tauson showed that her pre-event timing was indeed right on target. It's her first MD win at a major since Wimbledon '24, and her first in New York since '22.



Since her 2017 title run and QF follow-up the next year (a 17-5 two-year mark), Stephens had gone just 5-6 in New York from 2019-24. Today's result leveled that win percentage at .500 and lifts her back into the "live" Top 200.

...and today the Samsonova Flip skipped a beat, while Maya Joint continued her post-Serena resurgence.

After a poor 8-16 start to her '26 season, Liudmila Samsonova began her traditional annual climb back earlier this season. She came into this U.S. Open, while having just missed out on some big opportunities in three-set losses to Elena Rybakina (Toronto) and Coco Gauff (Cincinnati), having since gone 8-4.

1st Round opponent Maya Joint, still well under .500 herself for the year (11-21), seemed to offer a good chance to make a big move, as a win would bring #9-seed Elina Svitolina onto the court as her 2nd Round opponent. But Joint embarked on her own season-salvaging stretch earlier this summer, and would prove to be a stumbling block for the Hordette today.

Samsonova took the 1st set on Monday, but saw Joint roar back to win 3-6/6-2/6-2 to notch her third 1st Round U.S. Open win in three years.

Joint started this season at 3-15, and after ranking in the Top 30 in February she fell to #87 before Wimbledon, where she drew Serena Williams in the 1st Round. With the world and the fates against her, Joint got the win and began to try to put her bad start behind her. After today, starting with her win over Williams, she's on a 9-6 "surge." This past weekend, she even picked up a doubles title in Monterrey, for good measure.

Of course, success in the week *before* a major is nothing new for the Aussie. Last season, Joint's best moments came right before the first three majors of the year, but then she lost her 1st Round match in all three big events: reaching her maiden WTA Hobart before the AO, then winning titles in Rabat before RG and Eastbourne heading into SW19. She "tweaked" the scenario a bit before the U.S. Open, reaching the Cincinnati 3r, but falling in the Cleveland 1r before heading to New York, where she finally go ther first MD major win of the season.

In a season of such disappointment, but great resilience, Joint has already posted her "biggest" win over Williams, and now has another chance to play into her first major 3rd Round.

Tennis is just weird like that sometimes. In a New York minute, everything can change.







...I DIDN'T SEE IT, BUT I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE DIDN'T IMMEDIATELY *CLAIM* THE MICROPHONE LIKE IN "THE OLD DAYS" (that's when we'll know she's truly, really back)... ON DAY 2:





...THE JEWELRY IS STILL A BIT MUCH, BUT GOING WITH ALL ORANGE WAS A MUCH BETTER CHOICE THAN WHATEVER MISH-MASH THAT WAS LAST WEEK... ON DAY 2:




Looking for the first U.S. Open women's three-peat since Serena Williams from 2012-14 (w/ Chris Evert's four-year dominance from 1975-78 run, the only two in the Open era since Little Mo Connolly's pre-Open era 1951-53 reign), Sabalenka's win over Camila Osorio sets her on her journey to try to hold onto the #1 ranking. She'll have to win the title to do it.

She's now 20-1 in New York from 2023-26, and 51-4 in hard court majors since the '22 U.S. Open. She's reached seven straight hard court slam finals.


...SING-ALONG FOR AMANDA... ON DAY 2:





...SOMETHING LIKE THIS -- pairing players with young fans -- WOULD BE A GOOD SERIES FOR THE WTA (but, you know... the WTA)... ON DAY 2:




I mean, you have to squint to even realize that the tour's social media pertains to a *women's tennis organization* and not an auto dealership... even during a major.























Fantastic Morning











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**BACKSPIN 2026 WTA PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN (pre-AO): Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
AO: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
FEB: Jessie Pegula, USA
MAR: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
1Q...SABALENKA
APR: Jessie Pegula, USA
MAY: Elina Svitolina, UKR
RG: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
2Q Clay Court...ANDREEVA
JUN: Linda Noskova, CZE
WI: Linda Noskova, CZE
2Q Grass Court...NOSKOVA
JUL: Alex Eala, PHI
AUG (pre-U.S.): Coco Gauff, USA
[Multiple 2025 Weekly POW Award Wins]
3 - Mirra Andreeva, RUS
3 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2 - Karolina Muchova, CZE
2 - Linda Noskova, CZE
2 - Jessie Pegula, USA
2 - Elena Rybakina, KAZ
[2026 Weekly POW Award Wins]
Week 1: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
AO Q: Guiomar Maristany, ESP
Week 2: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
AO: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
Week 5: Sara Bejlek, CZE
Week 6: Karolina Muchova, CZE
Week 7: Jessie Pegula, USA
Week 8: Cristina Bucsa, ESP
IW: Aryna Sabalenka
MIA: Aryna Sabalenka
Week 13: Jessie Pegula, USA
Week 14: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
Week 15: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
MAD: Marta Kostyuk, UKR
ROM: Elina Svitolina, UKR
RG Q: Claire Liu, USA
Week 20: Emma Navarro, USA
RG: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
Week 23: Donna Vekic, CRO
Week 24: Linda Noskova, CZE
Week 25: Karolina Muchova, CZE and Madison Keys, USA
WI Q: Robin Montgomery, USA
WI: Linda Noskova, CZE Week 28: Barbora Krejcikova, CZE
Week 29: Lilli Tagger, AUT
Week 30: Kristina Liutova, RUS and Alex Eala, PHI
CAN: Iga Swiatek, POL
CIN: Coco Gauff, USA
Week 34: Diane Parry, FRA
US Q: Lucie Havlickova, CZE





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TOP QUALIFIER: Lucie Havlickova, CZE
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: #31 Andrea Lazaro Garcia/ESP def. Mai Hontama/JPN 5-7/7-6(6)/6-1 - saved 7 MP, four at 5-4 in 2nd set and three more at triple MP at 6-3 in TB
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Jasmine Paolini/ITA (def. Veronika Erjavec/SLO)
FIRST SEED OUT: #27 Barbora Krejcikova/CZE (1r- lost to Kamila Rakhimova/UZB)
FIRST CAREER SLAM MD WINS: 1r wins: Polina Iatcenko/RUS (1st MD), Himeno Sakatsume/JPN (2nd), Lilli Tagger/AUT (2nd)
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: 1r wins: Nadia Podoroska/ARG, Mananchaya Sawangkaew/THA
LUCKY LOSER MD WINS: no LL in MD
UPSET QUEENS: x
REVELATION LADIES: x
NATION OF POOR SOULS: x
CRASH & BURN: x
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Nominees: Pliskova/CZE (1r- trailed Vandewinkel 6-2/5-2; saved MP 5-4); Iatcenko/RUS (1r- trailed Zarazua 6-4/3-1, 4-2 in 3rd and Zarazua served for win); Birrell/AUS (1r- saved MP vs. Marcinko on Day 1 before play suspended, won in three sets on Day 2)
IT ("?"): x
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: 1r wins: Dart/GBR, Iatcenko/RUS, Sakatsume/JPN, Zheng/CHN
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: 1r wins: Kenin/USA, T.Preston/AUS, Stephens/USA
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: 1r wins: Anisimova, Kenin, Li, McNally, Navarro, Pegula, Stephens, Townsend
COMEBACK: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): x
DOUBLES STAR: x
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: x
BROADWAY-BOUND: x
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: Kenin d. V.Williams in 2:02 a.m. finish (1r)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x
BIG CITY ROLLER: x







All for Day 2. More tomorrow.
Posted by at

US.1- New York Ungrooved


And just like that...










=DAY 1 NOTES=
...on the final Sunday of August, the U.S. Open officially got underway at Flushing Meadows, with 18 scheduled women's MD matches in a 1st Round that'll be played out over the first three days.

The First Victory race to become the first women to reach the 2nd Round was a particularly complicated one this time around, as four different matches all at one point or another seemed fated to become the first to be completed.

The Donna Vekic/Talia Gibson match was the first to step into the spotlight as the Croatian veteran took a 6-2/4-1 lead over the Aussie and made it appear as if the First Victory honoree would be an open-and-shut case. But, oh, it wasn't.

As Vekic/Gibson went back on serve in the 2nd set, #19 Jasmine Paolini jumped out to a set and 4-1 lead of her own vs. Veronika Erjavec. Gibson edged ahead of Vekic 5-4 on Court 5, while Paolini saw her lead shrink to 4-3 on Armstrong. Gibson then claimed the 2nd set at 6-4, setting Vekic's FV campaign on the shelf by winning a fifth straight game.

Meanwhile, on Court 6, Renata Zarazua entered the discussion by taking a 6-4/3-1 lead on qualifier Polina Iatcenko, and Kamilla Rakhimova's upset bid on Court 17 vs. #27 Barbora Krejcikova suddenly grew real teeth with a hold for a 7-6/4-2 edge. Earlier in that one, Krejickova had rallied from 4-2 back in the 1st to force a breaker, only to see the Uzbeki take the opener anyway.

Paolini broke Erjavec for 5-3, and immediately served for the win. She held a MP at 40/30, but soon found herself BP down. Oh boy.

Rakhimova's break of Krejcikova's serve to lead 5-2 put *her* on the cusp of victory, as well, just as Paolini was broken and Erjavec got things back on serve at 5-4. Now it was Rakhimova's chance to serve for the win (and First Victory).

Rakhimova raced to a 40/15, double MP lead on Krejcikova, but the Czech wouldn't go out easily, getting the game back to deuce. Meanwhile, Paolini went up love/40 on Erjavec's serve, reaching triple MP just as Rakhimkova simultaneously held her own MP.

Finally, some clarity won out. Paolini got the break to win 6-3/3-6/6-4, posting the First Victory on the women's side. It's the Italian's 12th straight 1st Round victory in a major, after she'd had just four in her first 16 MD slam appearances from 2019-23.



With Paolini safely through, Krejcikova continued to hold off Rakhimova. But not for much longer. Rakhimova, on her seventh MP, made the Czech the First Seed Out at this U.S. Open with a 7-6(4)/6-2 victory. Through the five-deuce, six MP-saved final game, Krejcikova *never* was able to carve out a BP chance to truly put the pressure on her opponent.



The loss from Krejcikova, a quarterfinalist in New York in 2021 and '25, gives her three 1st Round exits in majors this season to go along with her Round of 16 run at Wimbledon. Her exit clears a little of the path for top seed and two-time defending champ Aryna Sabalenka, as they'd been set up for a possible 3rd Round meeting.

Ultimately, Vekic rebounded to take out Gibson, 6-2/4-6/6-3. The win still only improves Vekic's '26 mark in majors to 2-3, after 1st Round losses in Melbourne and London. Since her SF-4r-4r slam stretch between the '24 Wimbledon and '25 Australian, Vekic has failed to advance past the 2nd Round in six straight majors. She'll try to break that string when she next faces either Ann Li or Antonia Ruzic.

For her part, Iatcenko made her slam MD debut a winning one, staging a remarkable, multi-part comeback vs. Zarazua. The Mexican veteran, playing in her 12th consecutive major MD (just one off the 13 straight appearances from Angelica Gavaldon from 1993-96, the longest recent streak by a Mexican woman in slam competition), not only had led the match 6-4/3-1, but after Iatcenko forced a 3rd set it was Zarazua who took a 4-2 lead in the decider. She served for the win at 5-4, but ultimately fell in a 10-7 MTB as the Hordette picked up her first career win at a major.



...while Krejcikova fell early, fellow Old School Crusher Karolina Pliskova did not. Barely.

The 34-year old *seemed* on her way out, though, trailing Hanne Vandewinkel 6-2/5-2, and facing down a MP at 5-4 in the Belgian's second attempt to serve out the match. The Czech broke Vandewinkel for a third straight time to seize the 2nd set, then ran out to a 4-0 lead in the decider. Pliskova held two MP on Vandewinkel's serve at 5-2, and finally served out the win on MP #4 for a 2-6/7-5/6-3 victory to become the first Czech (of the 12 in the MD, second in numbers to only to the U.S.) to advance.



Pliskova remains an underreported success story in '26. She's nearly officially back in the Top 50 after finishing last year at #1044, playing just three lower-level matches in '25 after missing most of nearly a year and a half after retiring with a foot injury just three points into her 2nd Round match vs. Paolini at the '24 U.S. Open.

This year, Pliskova has reached a SF (Nottingham) and three QF, notched two Top 10 wins, and now posted MD wins in three majors (all but RG, where she lost in qualifying).

Pliskova has a great history at the U.S. Open, though it's now a bit in the rear view. From 2016-22, she went 26-7, reaching a final (2016) and four other QF, one as the #1 seed in '17 (she lost to CoCo Vandeweghe as Bannerettes filled all four SF slots -- one was Venus Williams, while Sloane Stephens would ultimately defeat Madison Keys in the final).

...rain suspended a pair of outer court women's matches on Sunday night, but the Ashe evening session's *stupendous* closing match between Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin was still on like Donkey Kong (but only after another way-too-long, best-of-five men's match in another example of the USTA's brilliant tournament scheduling and strategizing).



As midnight peeked around the corner, it hadn't been a very good day for the "home team" in New York (and the Jets' opener is still two Sundays away). In all, of the five completed matches that included U.S. woman before the night session the only winner was the aforementioned Pegula, the lone "1" in a 1-4 start. Emma Navarro led Lois Boisson by a set and 4-2 when play was suspended in their match-up, so the Williams/Kenin winner was assured of just being the *second* Bannerette to reach the 2nd Round on Day 1.

In a match-up of former slam winners with a combined 2026 record of 6-31 (i.e. "the perfect grand slam showcase for women's tennis," according to the USTA), it was Kenin and her 6-20 record (w/ 11 1r losses this season, falling from #28 to #110 over the course of the season) vs. Williams and her 0-11 mark. So, yes, that's *22* 1st Round exits between the two of them, with #23 on deck.

46-year old Williams came in on a 14-match losing streak, sporting a 1-18 mark back to '23 and playing in her 29th consecutive event by way of a wild card berth into the MD. It's been more than five years since Venus won a singles match in a major, going back to *before* Serena's now-reversed retirement in 2022.

Even with all those numbers *not* in her favor, Williams was given a good shot to actually *win* this one due to Kenin's shaky form, which included a 2-11 record on hard court this year (still better than Venus' 0-9).

And then everyone waited...



Finally, the match began at 12:13 a.m., the latest-starting scheduled night match in Ashe Stadium history.

Kenin broke to start things off, and led 3-0. Though Williams started to pick things up as the 1st set progressed, Kenin had a fairly error-free night as she built up a 6-2/4-2 lead and held a BP for 5-2. Then things got more than a little choppy (translation:. here come the UEs).

After a truly bad service game that essentially broke herself and knotted the set at 4-4, two games later Kenin fell behind love/40 as the UEs kept coming. Somehow she pulled that game out of the fire to hold, saving three SP, and took a 15/40 lead on Williams' serve a game later. But Williams managed to save four BP in all, and held for 6-5 when a Kenin return went wide. Kenin pulled things together for a quick hold, sending things to a TB.

There, Williams pushed out to a 6-2 lead, meaning what no *sane* person wanted -- a 3rd set -- seemed destined to become a reality. It would have been an interesting thing to witness, considering Kenin's 2-9 record this year in three-set matches is actually quite good compared to Williams' 0-4 mark in '26, with eight straight losses (her last three-set win came in June 2023) and a 1-11 mark since 2022.

Somehow, though, the 3rd set didn't happen, as Williams saw four more SP (7 in all) come and go as Kenin swept the final six points to win 8-6, taking the 6-2/7-6(6) contest that ended at 2:02 a.m., the third-latest ending women's match in U.S. Open history and the overall latest-ending 1st Rounder.



Williams' singles losing streak now stands at 15 matches. She's two losses away from tying for the third-longest women's singles losing streak in tour history. Well, unless the WTA finds another *longer* losing streak or two that they'd lost track of over the years, like what happened the last time someone climbed to the top of that list.

Oh, by the way, the women's match is scheduled to start second during Monday's night session, too.

...elsewhere, on the ITF World Tennis circuit, it was the case of another week, another Crusher champion by way of defeating yet another Crusher in the final.

In the $75K in Bytom, Poland, 22-year old Barbora Palicova defeated 18-year old Denisa Zoldakova, rallying from a set down to win in three. Zoldakova had served for the match at 5-4 in the 2nd before Palicova ran off the next three games to level the match. In the 3rd, Palicova came back on return from 40/15 down to break her fellow Czech to end the match, winning 3-6/7-5/6-4.

It's Palicova's fifth career circuit title, and second this year (both career-best $75K wins).



Meanwhile, here's the court that the two played on. Talk about some aggravating shadows...







...WHEN IT COMES TO RUINING A GOOD THING DUE TO OVEREXPOSURE, TENNIS ATTITRE REMAINS UNDEFEATED... ON DAY 1:





...THE LONE EXCEPTION TO THE ABOVE RULE... ON DAY 1:





...THANKFULLY, VEKIC WON TODAY (just as a reward for this moment from last week)... ON DAY 1:





...ESPN, BACK IN FINE FORM... ON DAY 1:





...WITH SO MANY EMBARRASSMENTS AND SCREW-UPS (already) AT THIS U.S. OPEN, LET'S NOT FORGET SO QUICKLY ABOUT THIS ONE... ON DAY 1:





...REPOST... ON DAY 1:

I thought I'd re-post the "Prop Picks" thing for the Open, just so that I can replace the "Iga/Eala" mention with the correct "Coco/Eala" one for a potential 4th Rounder.

I think I just liked the sound of "Iga/Eala" and couldn't get it out of my head.



US26 "PROP PICK" PREDICTIONS

1. The winner will *not* come from the trio of women who've won major titles in 2026
...of course, they'd be Elena Rybakina, Mirra Andreeva and Linda Noskova
2. The winner *will* be a former slam singles finalist
...the list from the last three seaons (11): Anisimova, Chwalinska, Gauff, Keys, Krejickova, Muchova, Paolini, Pegula, Sabalenka, Swiatek, Zheng

The list from before the 2024 season (+7, though only one might likely come into play): Fernandez, Kenin, Osaka, Ostapenko, Pliskova, Stephens, V.Williams
3. The runner-up will be a first-time major finalist
...there have been three so far in '26 (Andreeva & Chwalinska at RG, Noskova at WI), but just one at the U.S. Open since the (x2) Raducanu/Fernandez final in 2021 (Pegula in '24). The three first-timers in New York are the smallest number at any of the four majors in the 2020s (AO: 5, RG: 8, WI: 4).
4. Iga Swiatek will at least match her best '26 result at a major
...after a QF at the Australian Open, Swiatek posted 4r and 3r results in the next two slam events this year
5. The Williams sisters, without a doubles match win as a team since the 2018 Roland Garros (going 0-3), will post at least one in New York
...Serena not risking injury by playing singles, as happened at Wimbledon, doesn't hurt their chances here, either. Of course, there *is* still Venus who has to get through a match.
HM- Dark Horses (4r+): if not "dark horses," then at least intriguing names to watch...

Diana Shnaider: she's the #15 seed, so reaching the Round of 16 would just hold up her seed. But Shnaider took advantage of Sabalenka's collapse in Paris, and this time finds herself on the opposite end of the #1's section. The Hordette is 7-3 this hard court summer, and reached the 4th Round in New York in her '24 debut. Potentially worrisome: a 1st Rd. match-up with an upset-minded Daria Snigur.

Diane Parry: off a Wimbledon Round of 16, Cincy 4th Round and Monterrey title (she's on an 8-1 run after winning her maiden WTA crown), the Pastry has posted 3r-3r-4r-2r results in her last four major MD appearances. She has a possible match-up with #16 Cirstea in the 2nd Round, and has the rusty #19 seed Paolini in her 3rd Round way, but a path is there for Parry to reach a second slam 4th Round in '26 (after having none in 20 MD from 2019-25).

Liudmila Samsonova: yep, I'm going to play the "Samsonova Flip" card again. If she gets past Maya Joint in the opener, Samsonova (8-4 since her 8-16 start) would have a shot at a big name in #9 Svitolina in the 2nd Round. Samsonova reached the Round of 16 in 2022 and '24.

Naomi Osaka: the #13 seed is a two-time champ and reached the SF last year, but it bears watching that if #2 Rybakina isn't up to snuff after her Cincinnati retirement then the bottom section of the draw could big-time fall Osaka's way. They could meet in what would probably be the biggest Round of 16 match-up (well, along with Coco/Eala).










It still irks me that ESPN continues to use a newly-recorded remix version of "New York Groove" in current promotions for U.S. Open coverage, which makes the song that was a signature of U.S. coverage of the event for well more than a decade (if not two) almost unrecognizable and loses any trace of what made the song special in the first place.

That last year they replaced the Ace Frehley version (a cover, but far more well known than the British group Hello's original recording) that had worked so well, then he died about a month later (last October), and now they're back with another year of the needlessly devolved recording makes it even more insulting. But I guess that *does* align it with *most* of ESPN's coverage of the sport.

So, in protest and in defense of the late, great Ace (a native New Yorker, it should be pointed out), this space's annual spotlight...













New York City - HDR Questing











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Hmmm, credit to Svitolina for *not* wearing the "official" Adidas burgundy-colored uniform for her 1st Round match...













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*RECENT U.S. OPEN "FIRST VICTORY"*
2018 Jil Teichmann, SUI (def. Jakupovic)
2019 Ana Bogdan, ROU (def. Dart)
2020 Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (def. Minnen)
2021 Kristina Kucova, SVK (def. Li)
2022 Anna Kalinskaya, RUS (def. Peterson)
2023 Karolina Muchova, CZE (def. Hunter)
2024 Wang Yafan, CHN (def. Sakkari)
2025 Polina Kudermetova, RUS (def. Parrizas Diaz)
2026 Jasmine Paolini, ITA (def. Erjavec)

*RECENT U.S. OPEN "FIRST SEED OUT"*
2018 #31 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Wang Q.)
2019 #27 Caroline Garcia, FRA (Jabeur)
2020 #32 Rebecca Peterson, SWE (Flipkens)
2021 #31 Yulia Putintseva, KAZ (Kanepi)
2022 #7 Simona Halep, ROU (Snigur)
2023 #8 Maria Sakkari, GRE (Masarova)
2024 #9 Maria Sakkari, GRE (Wang Yafan)
2025 #24 Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (Tjen)
2026 #27 Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (Rakhimova)
[2026]
AO: #26 Dayana Yastremska, UKR (Ruse)
RG: #21 Clara Tauson, DEN (Snigur)
WI: #20 Maja Chwalinska, POL (Sawangkaew)
US: #27 Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (Rakhimova)

*Latest-Starting Scheduled U.S. Open Night Session Match (Ashe)*
12:13am - 2026, Venus Williams vs. Sofia Kenin
12:07am - 2024, Aryna Sabalenka vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova
12:00am - 1987, Gabriela Sabatini vs. Beverly Bowes
11:53pm - 2013, Sloane Stephens vs. Urszula Radwanska
11:51pm - 2010, Caroline Wozniacki vs. Chelsey Gullickson

*Latest Scheduled U.S. Open Night Session Match End (Ashe)*
[women's]
2:16am - 2024 4th Rd. - Zheng Qinwen def. Donna Vekic
2:13am - 2021 4th Rd. - Maria Sakkari d. Bianca Andreescu
2:02am - 2026 1st Rd. - Sofia Kenin d. Venus Williams
1:48am - 2016 1st Rd. - Madison Keys d. Alison Riske
1:48am - 2024 3rd Rd. - Aryna Sabalenka d. Ekaterina Alexandrova






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Google Maps app, 10 pm ET. I stand corrected. Google is a disgrace.

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— Barb McQuade (@barbmcquade.bsky.social) August 30, 2026 at 10:09 PM


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I feel like I’m living In a dystopian novel written in 1993 that was rejected by dozens of publishers because it was incredibly stupid.

— Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social) August 29, 2026 at 3:36 PM


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Where did this floating island come from? A mystery on a B.C. lake www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

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— Andrew Kurjata (@akurjata.ca) August 29, 2026 at 10:41 AM













TOP QUALIFIER: Lucie Havlickova, CZE
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: #31 Andrea Lazaro Garcia/ESP def. Mai Hontama/JPN 5-7/7-6(6)/6-1 - saved 7 MP, four at 5-4 in 2nd set and three more at triple MP at 6-3 in TB
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Jasmine Paolini/ITA (def. Veronika Erjavec/SLO)
FIRST SEED OUT: #27 Barbora Krejcikova/CZE (1r- lost to Kamila Rakhimova/UZB)
FIRST CAREER SLAM MD WINS: Day 1 wins: Polina Iatcenko/RUS (1st MD)
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: Day 1 wins: -
LUCKY LOSER MD WINS: no LL in MD
UPSET QUEENS: x
REVELATION LADIES: x
NATION OF POOR SOULS: x
CRASH & BURN: x
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Nominees: Pliskova/CZE (1r- trailed Vandewinkel 6-2/5-2; saved MP 5-4); Iatcenko/RUS (1r- trailed Zarazua 6-4/3-1, 4-2 in 3rd and Zarazua served for win)
IT ("?"): x
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Day 1 wins: Iatcenko/RUS
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Day 1 wins: Kenin/USA, T.Preston/AUS
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: Day 1 wins: Kenin, Pegula
COMEBACK: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): x
DOUBLES STAR: x
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: x
BROADWAY-BOUND: x
LADY OF THE EVENING: x
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x
BIG CITY ROLLER: x







All for Day 1. More tomorrow.
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