No. 6 seed Madison Keys was bounced from the U.S. Open in the first round when she fell 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5 to unseeded Renata Zarazua of Mexico on Monday in New York.
The match was on serve in the third set until Zarazua broke Keys for a 5-3 advantage. Keys broke back in the next game and brought the set even at 5-5, but Zarazua broke Keys again in the 12th game and won on her first match point.
It was the first victory over a top-20 player in Zarazua’s career as she grabbed her head in disbelief after securing the win.
Zarazua took advantage of 89 unforced errors from Keys and won despite her opponent’s 46-8 advantage in winners.
Zarazua advanced to meet France’s Diane Parry in the second round. Parry was an easy 6-1, 6-0 winner in the first round against Czechia’s Petra Kvitova.
Keys had seven aces to none for Zarazua in the three-hour, 10-minute match, but had 14 double faults to five for her opponent.
Zarazua saved seven of Keys’ 12 break-point opportunities, while converting six of 10 break-point chances.
In another first-round match Monday, two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova ousted No. 22 seed Victoria Mboko in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Mboko, the 18-year-old Canadian who won her first WTA title of any kind at the National Bank Open in her home country earlier this month, struggled with her right wrist heavily taped. While she landed 64 percent of her first serves, Mboko also suffered from 10 double faults while winning only 36 of her 70 service points.
Krejcikova, 29, entered the U.S. Open unranked but is coming off a run to the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open. The Wimbledon champion in 2024 and winner of the 2021 French Open, Krejcikova dominated from the outset against Mboko, winning 69 total points to her opponents’ 49.
Krejcikova will next face unranked Moyuka Uchijima from Japan in the second round.
“I’ve been really busy, we’ve been really practicing and also we enjoyed the city,” Krejcikova said in her on-court interview after the match. “We discovered a lot of good ice creams around the city and a lot of nice restaurants.
“I’m enjoying it. So, it’s been good, and I hope I can be here as long as I can.”
No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan finished off Julieta Pareja 6-3, 6-0 to advance, while No. 17 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia also moved on by rallying for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over China’s Yuan Yue.
Samsonova had 10 aces to two for Yue while saving six of nine break points.
No. 30 seed Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine was eliminated 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-4 by Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova despite having 43 winners to 19 for her opponent. Yastremska was undone by 53 unforced errors.
Also advancing out of the first round was Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, who was a 6-4, 7-6 (4) winner over Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, while Australia’s Priscilla Hon won 6-3, 7-5 over France’s Leolia Jeanjean. No. 19 Elise Mertens of Belgium was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over American Alyssa Ahn.
A pair of Americans advanced after Taylor Townsend earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Croatia’s Antonia Lui and Iva Jovic got past Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-6 (6), 6-3. Another American, Claire Liu, was eliminated 6-2, 6-2 by Spain’s Cristina Busca.
–Field Level Media
