Day 1 of the US Open is done and dusted and upsets have already begun. In the ladies draw we saw the 29th seed, Cocciaretto, get knocked out by unseeded Juvan. Sorribes Tormo was another player who knocked out a seed as she beat the 28th seed, Kalinina, in straight sets 6-4; 7-5. The 16th seed, Kudermetova, who has had a very mixed year lost in the 1st round to American Pera 7-5; 6-4. But that wasn’t even the biggest upset because the big upset was the loss of 8th seed, Sakkari who lost 6-4; 6-4 to unseeded Spaniard, Masarova. Haddad Maia the 19th seed, had one of the toughest first rounds as she was up against not only an American but also a past winner here at the US Open, Sloane Stephens. Haddad Maia however managed to survive the test as she beat Stephens in a tough 3 set encounter 6-2; 5-7; 6-4. Azarenka, Muchova, Bencic, Swiatek, Collins, Rybakina, Brady, Wozniacki, Linette, Cirstea and Kvitova all won their respective matches in straight sets. Gauff, Ostapenko and Mertens all had to battle through their opening matches in straight sets.

In the mens draw, the 15th seeded Canadian, Auger-Aliassime, lost another first round match at a grand slam as he lost in four sets to McDonald. Droguet produced a huge upset as he beat 18th seed, Musetti in a thrilling 5 set encounter. Fucsovics and Korda had a marathon of a match on day 1 of this years US Open. Fucsovics maybe to the surprise of a few people was the one to come out on top as he beat the 31st seed, Korda, 7-6(4); 4-6; 7-6(1); 4-6; 6-4. The biggest name to fall was the 4th seed, Rune, who lost in 4 sets to Carballes Baena. 2020 champion, Dominic Thiem was coming into the tournament not having played on hard courts since March but he looked at home on these courts as he breezed past the 25th seed, Bublik, 6-3; 6-2; 6-4. Davidovich Fokina, Ruud, Tiafoe, Djere, Fritz, Karatsev, Paul, Eubanks, Djokovic and Tsitsipas all made it safely through to the 2nd round.

Onto the fantasy leaderboard and our leader is sitting on 43 points and they are ‘Fantasy Alive’. Then there is a huge chasing pack with 4 teams all tied on 40 points in 2nd. ‘2nd’, ‘Draper’s Imjuries’, ‘Team Kickbutt’ and ‘Fudgies’ are all sitting in 2nd place.

Enjoy the tennis tonight as we see the conclusion of the 1st round.

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.