New York (AFP) – Carlos Alcaraz opens his bid for a sixth Grand Slam title at the US Open on Monday as Venus Williams prepares to make a record-extending 25th appearance at the tennis showpiece. The second full day of action at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows will see all eyes on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court as Alcaraz and Williams headline the night session.
Spanish star Alcaraz is chasing a second US Open title following his maiden Grand Slam victory at the tournament in 2022 and faces big-serving American Reilly Opelka in the first round. The 22-year-old second seed is on course for another blockbuster showdown with Jannik Sinner in New York, after already meeting the Italian twice in Grand Slam finals this season.
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US tennis icon Williams, meanwhile, will kick off what could well turn out to be her final US Open campaign when she takes on Czech 11th seed Karolina Muchova in the first round. The 45-year-old, who is ranked 602nd in the world, was handed a wild card into the first round of the women’s singles draw in New York after returning to tennis in July following a 16-month absence from the sport. This year’s appearance comes some 28 years after she first graced the US Open as a 17-year-old in 1997, going on a fairytale run to the final, where she was defeated by Martina Hingis.
“It does not get old; it just gets more exciting,” Williams said on Saturday of her excitement about playing in the open. Williams’ participation also falls on the 75th anniversary of African-American tennis trailblazer Althea Gibson’s first appearance at the US national championships in 1950. A ceremony marking that milestone will take place on Arthur Ashe before Williams’ match later Monday.
“I think the most important part is that we are celebrating it and recognizing it, because Althea accomplished so much, and a lot of it has not been given the credit it deserves and the attention and the praise,” Williams said.
Elsewhere on Monday, early action saw two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova formally bring the curtain down on her career after a 6-1, 6-0 defeat to France’s Diane Parry. The 35-year-old Czech had already announced her intention to retire after the US Open, but was nonetheless overcome with emotion as she bade farewell to the sport, breaking down in tears as she addressed fans after her game. “I hoped I would put on a better show today,” Kvitova said after her loss. “It was tough to know it could be my last match, and emotionally it was very tough as well.”
Australian Open champion Madison Keys, meanwhile, became the highest ranked player to exit so far, the sixth seed losing to Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/3), 7-5. “Today was the first time in a while where my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralyzing,” Keys said. “I was just slow, I wasn’t seeing things the way that I wanted to, which I feel like resulted in a lot of bad decisions and lazy footwork.”
In other early games, Czech veteran Barbora Krejcikova bundled out rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko, defeating the teenager 6-3, 6-2. Belgian 19th seed Elise Mertens ousted wild card entrant Alyssa Ahn 6-1, 6-0, while Ukrainian 30th seed Dayana Yastremska exited in a 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 loss to Russian player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
In the men’s draw, meanwhile, qualifier Coleman Wong scored a notable first, becoming the first player from Hong Kong to record a victory in a Grand Slam singles event in the Open era with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4) defeat of US player Aleksandar Kovacevic. British fifth seed Jack Draper needed four sets to get past Argentina’s Federico Gomez, winning 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2.
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