Key events
Zheng speaks after her win on coming back after the first set:
Amanda was hitting the ball really good in the first set. Every ball was going to the side and I couldn’t do anything. But in the second set, I got more into the rhythm; hit my shots and serves better.
On her Olympic gold and leaving her medal with her parents in China:
I went through five tough matches without stop. It was unbelievable journey. Like you said, I don’t have my gold medal with me but I know Novak Djokovic has his. But I am here in New York and want to focus on this tournament.
Zheng Qinwen beats Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Her 12th ace of the match takes her to 40-15 in the final game and at match point she seals it with a fantastic serve that her opponent can’t reach.
An exciting one that would not have looked out of place in the second round at Flushing Meadows but the Olympic champion goes through.
Erika Andreeva beats Yuan Yue 6-3, 7-6 (7)
The Russian, ranked 75th in the world, takes her first round match in straight sets against the world No 37. It marks Andreeva’s second slam in a row with a main draw win.
*Zheng 4-6, 6-4, 4-2 Anisimova (denotes server): At 30-0 for Zheng, Anisimova steals point in a 10-shot rally but again she does thing where she does even move for a shot she thinks may go out. Zheng hits a forehand that is obviously going in with the dip but the American – maybe because of the pain in her foot – stays put. Zheng sees it out with an ace, which she really needed to steady the ship.
Zheng 4-6, 6-4, 3-2 Anisimova* (denotes server): A stunning crosscourt forehand right on the paint from Anisimova makes it 40-15 but Zheng follows it up with one of her own. But the American is finally finding her stride in this set and another pinpoint forehand seals the game. She gets huge cheers from her home crowd with plenty of “Lets go, Amanda!” chants ringing out.
*Zheng 4-6, 6-4, 3-1 Anisimova (denotes server): The American breaks! She is still obviously struggling, even hitting a couple of backhands with only one hand but her team urges on with “one point at a time”.
And Shelton has taken the first set against Thiem. His 77% first serve rate in quite incredible compared to his opponents 39%.
Zverev has lost the second set against Marterer. It went to a tie-break and while the fourth seed went up 4-2, his counterpart came through to take it 7-5.
*Zheng 4-6, 6-4, 2-0 Anisimova (denotes server): The American nets on the first serve immediately and the camera cuts to her team who do look a bit anxious. Zheng then hits a fantastic slice but then Anisimova drops her racquet and shakes her right wrist around. May have been just a hand cramp as she hits a beautiful return that is just in straight after. From there it is smooth sailing for Zheng.
Zheng 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 Anisimova* (denotes server): Excellent start for Zheng. Clear the movement is coming into play here. The Chinese is better defensively and as the rallies prolong that is going to go in her favour. She goes up 40-15 and she breaks in a very short game.
Thanks, Will. Hello again, everyone! Bit of a hold up on Louis Armstrong as Anisimova is getting her foot wrapped. It seems she jammed the ball of her foot in the middle of the second set.
Right, time to hand back to Yara. Enjoy the rest of the day, tennis heads!
Zheng takes the second set against Anisimova and the match is set to go the distance. There’s no doubt which player has the wind in her sails.
Donna Vekic beats Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 6-4
Vekic, the 23rd seed, has booked her place in the second round, rattling off straight sets to overcome Birrell.
Zheng 4-6, 5-4 Anisimova* (denotes server): Anisimova drops a couple of points on the way to a hold. Zheng now has the opportunity to serve for the second set.
Daria Kasatkina beats Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 6-4
Kasatkina has powered her way into round two on Court Seven, dismissing her Romanian opponent in straight sets.
Carballés Baena has taken the second set against Choinski, despite a slight wobble on serve which forced him to defend a break point. The Spaniard now leads 6-2, 6-3.
Choinski 2-6, 3-5 Carballés Baena* (denotes server): Carballés Baena has a chance to see out the second set on serve over on Court 16.
Zheng 4-6, 4-3 Anisimova* (denotes server): Anisimova denies Zheng a double break in the second set, holding off a succession of break points. The pair duke it out at deuce, the American finally prevailing after two excellent backhands.
On the men’s side of the draw, Alexander Zverev has won the first set against Maximilian Marterer 6-2, Shang Juncheng and Alexander Bublik have traded sets, Ugo Humbert won the first set against Thiago Monteiro 6-3 but trails 2-4 in the second, Roberto Bautista Agut is up 7-5, 3-1 against Luca Nardi, Hugo Grenier won the first set against Mitchell Krueger 6-4 and Dominic Stricker likewise against Francisco Comesana. Ben Shelton’s match against Dominic Thiem is under way at 2-1 to the American with the Austrian on serve.
Let’s do a short roundup, shall we? Donna Vekic leads Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 3-1 on Court 12, Daria Kasatkina leads Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 5-4, Erika Andreeva is 6-3, 2-1 up against Yue Yuan, Elina Svitolina is up 4-1 in the second set against María Lourdes Carlé having lost the first 6-3, Jule Niemeier is a set up against Dayana Yastremska and Diane Parry has taken the first set against Wang Xiyu by tiebreak.
Elsewhere, Wang Yafan has got a walkover to the second round after Maria Sakkari had to retire. Wang had won the first set 6-2.
*Choinski 2-6, 2-2 Carballés Baena (denotes server): Carballés Baena is well on top on Court 16, but Choinski shows his mettle to hold to love.
*Zheng 4-6, 1-1 Anisimova (denotes server): Zheng holds to love, producing a chunky ace along the way. She looks laser-focused.
Zheng 4-6, 0-1 Anisimova* (denotes server): Anisimova still looks vulnerable, giving up two points on her way to a hold. Zheng’s big forehands are still troubling her, but she shows enough guile with her shot selection to see out the game.
Hello! It was a gutsy fightback, but Zheng falls short at the last as Anisimova wrests set point and sends an unstoppable winner flashing down the line. The American takes the first set 6-4, though she certainly took a meandering path to her destination. Can Zheng swing the momentum in her favour in the second set?
Will Magee is here for an hour to take you through the action. I will be back in a bit.
Ben Shelton will be beginning his first round on Arthur Ashe soon. The 13th seed has said that he has not played his best tennis yet this season but he shone in New York last year.
He gets his chat on here on his meteoric ascent as America’s next star, sitting out the Olympics and expectations at Flushing Meadows.
*Zheng 3-5 Anisimova (denotes server): Anisimova looked to be cruising towards this first set but Zheng hits a few powerful forehands that really throw the American off. She also does not move when she thinks the ball is going out and when it inevitably goes in, she has no one but herself to blame. That is now only 2/11 break points won for the American.
Zheng 2-5 Anisimova* (denotes server): She isn’t down and out yet. In a game that only takes a few minutes, the Chinese opts to come a lot closer to the net to hit some forehands and it pays off.
*Zheng 1-5 Anisimova (denotes server): Zheng is not having her best start but she is hoping to turn it around. She hits two aces to make it 40-30 but then Anisimova gets advantage after two back to back nets. So far, every service game Zheng has had she has had to fend off at least one break point. This time it takes only one for her to take the game and she is now serving for the set. She is really playing under no pressure and her return game has been spectacular to watch.
*Choinski 1-2 Carballés Baena (denotes server): Choinski is such a strong server and because of the hardcourt they are quite speedy as well. It means that Carballés Baena is opting to stay so far back to recieve. He is well outside of the court lines and often times out of the camera frame as well. Choinski gets the advantage but Carballés Baena slowly moves up the court and hits a smashing forehand to make it a second deuce. We go back and forth for a while but it’s at the sixth break point where after a short rally the Brit hits a shot out. That 13-minute felt never ending and had everything: foot faults, a few aces and some slicing shots.
Choinski 1-2 Carballés Baena* (denotes server): On Court 16, Carballés Baena is leading by a game against Choinski. This match has been a lot more free-flowing but the unforced errors for both are mounting up. Think this might be a battle of who can hold their nerve better.
*Zheng 1-1 Anisimova (denotes server): Anisimova’s backhand is lethal at times but Zheng is serving exactly where the American prefers. She goes 40-0 up after the Chinese nets a shot but then a well-wide forehand makes it 40-15. Zheng saves again and then makes it deuce with a shot that just teeters on the net which throws Anisimova off her game and three break points come and go. Zhengs holds and we’re all tied up. Zheng has to work and make this a forehand crosscourt battle. She feels a bit rushed out there and it is preventing any rallies from happening.
Zheng 0-1 Anisimova* (denotes server): The American takes the first set after some really strong serves. From the first game it is obvious that this will be an interesting matchup with the two players having such differing strengths.
The US Open is underway. We’ll start with two matches; the first on Louis Armstrong as the Olympic gold medal winner Zheng Qinwen takes on Amanda Anisimova, whose best result at a slam was the quarter-finals in Wimbledon in 2022. On Court 16, the German-born Briton Jan Choinski has qualified for the main draw for the first time in his career will face Roberto Carballés Baena.
Jack Draper is on the defensive after receiving backlash due to his controversial point during his fourth-round win against Félix Auger-Aliassime at the Cincinnati Open.
Draper, another Brit hoping to impress, attempted to close out an excellent performance against Auger-Aliassime with a serve and volley but, instead of hitting a forehand half volley, Draper inadvertently hit the ball into the ground, which bounced up and dribbled over the net. The umpire, Greg Allensworth, did not notice the double bounce and a frustrated Auger-Aliassime patiently explained why Draper should have lost the point.
The Briton had offered to replay the point if they could see the video replay but he maintained that he was unsure of what had happened and he was eventually declared the winner.
I’ve always valued myself on being honest and a good person. Forget the tennis – that is one of the most important things to me in my life. So to obviously see that stuff, and see people talking about you for the first time in a negative way – and questioning your integrity and stuff like that – it’s obviously difficult to see.
I don’t blame people for doing that. Obviously, on the slow-mo, when you watch it from the side, it’s very clear it’s an illegal shot. There’s no doubt about that. But when you’re in the moment and you serve out wide and the guy’s hit a 95mph ball at your feet, you just put a racket down and I didn’t know what happened. I looked at the umpire straight away. I think I took a swipe at it, because I thought it was going in the bottom of the net, and then it hit the net and went over. It was just like a split second of madness.
The familiar face of Emma Raducanu is in New York and is “inspired” to be back where she won her first and only slam.
Back in 2021, tennis may have provided arguably Britain’s sporting highlight of the 2020s so far as Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a grand slam with her US Open triumph.
Throughout this summer, the British No 2 has spoken about finding the joy in tennis again, which had been difficult for so long. The results she has compiled over the past four months back up those sentiments. Raducanu has reached the quarter-finals or better at four of her past six tour events, had a run to the fourth round of Wimbledon and a defining role in Great Britain’s win over France on clay in the Billie Jean King Cup.
I feel very proud when I come here. Walking past my photo every day. Walking past my name on the trophy every day. I think that is such an epic achievement and these two weeks, I completed it. I come back with such a different outlook. Just joy and pride and it inspires me to want to do more.
While Sinner has said he did not receive preferential treatment, many disagree a sentiment that Novak Djokovic can “understand”. The Serbian has called for anti-doping rules to change in light of the recent case against Sinner.
We see a lack of standardised and clear protocols. I can understand the sentiments of a lot of players that are questioning whether they are treated the same. Hopefully the governing bodies of our sport will be able to learn from this case and have a better approach for the future. Collectively there has to be a change, and I think that’s obvious.
Many players – without naming any of them [as] I’m sure you know already who – have had similar or pretty much the same cases, where they haven’t had the same outcome. And now the question is whether it is a case of the funds, whether a player can afford to pay a significant amount of money for a law firm that would then more efficiently represent his or her case. I don’t know. Is that the case or not? That’s something really I feel like we have to collectively investigate more.
Carlos Alcaraz responded with caution when asked about his rival’s positive test:
In the end, they’ve declared him innocent and he’s in the tournament. I think there’s not much more to talk about and at least I don’t have much to say. It’s something that is talked about [in the locker room].
As mentioned, Sinner has been the word on everyone’s lips. The Italian has had an explosive year, winning his first and only slam in Melbourne in January and soaring to world No 1 during the French Open.
The Italian faced the media for the first time since the results came to light last week in New York. While the moderator tried to shut down questions about the topic after only one was asked, Sinner seemed happy to respond at length to all the questions and was fully engaged with his questioners.
I had to play already months with this in my head, but just [reminding] myself that I haven’t done really anything wrong. I always respect these rules, and I always will respect these rules of anti-doping. Just obviously a relief for myself having this result.
Every player who gets tested positive has to go through the same process. There is no shortcut, there is no different treatment, they are all the same process.
Sinner will begin his US Open campaign against the US’s Mackenzie McDonald, who is ranked 119 in the world.
Preamble
Hello all and welcome to our very first blog of the 2024 US Open.
The build-up to this tournament has largely been dominated by Jannik Sinner. The world No 1 had tested positive twice for trace amounts of the banned substance clostebol from anti-doping test samples taken in March. But an independent tribunal had subsequently determined that Sinner should bear no fault for the failed tests. This news was all kept under wraps until he was cleared, a day after he had won his second Masters 1000 title at the Cincinnati Open.
Turning to today, we have the defending champion Coco Gauff, the Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen and Britain’s Harriet Dart all in action
On the men’s side, the US fan favourite and last year’s semi-finalist Ben Shelton, the 2022 finalist, Casper Ruud, and Alexander Zverev will face their first round matches today.
Join me for all the news and action from Flushing Meadows. If you have any thoughts, concerns, questions, musings, predictions or hopes and dreams you want to share, then drop me a line via email. You can find the information at the top of this blog.
