NEW YORK (AP) – Madison Keys slept until nearly 11 a.m. Monday.
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“I didn’t know I could play such great tennis after 1 a.m.”, Keys said. Their first-round U.S. Open match didn’t end until 1:48 a.m. Tuesday.
Keys, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals and Wimbledon quarter-finals past year, reined in her sometimes over exuberant groundstrokes to claim a 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-2 win over the 60th-ranked Riske in a grueling two hour, 25 minute slugfest.
Madison Keys reacts after defeating Alison Riske in the first round of the US Open.
Two well-defined American streaks collided Monday night in the first round of the US Open. She’ll be seeking to make it to the third round at a major for the first time.
Meanwhile, 26-year-old Alison Riske – ranked No. 60 among WTA players – had lost her first-round match in the past eight majors. The 21-year-old is coming off a run to the Olympic semifinals, but she pulled out of the hard-court tuneup at New Haven because of a neck injury. “6 a.m., 7 a.m.is tougher”. We’ve seen crazier things happen at the US Open. This was the first time she faced a top-20 opponent.
The darling of the 2014 tournament after she stunned Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova as a 15-year-old, Bellis is back in the main draw this year and beat 65th-ranked Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-3 on Monday.
Djokovic’s issues figure to loom large as the tournament progresses and were the most noteworthy development on the opening day at Flushing Meadows which did include drama elsewhere.
Zheng, also 22, upset Agnieszka Radwanska at the Olympics.
John Isner has made a match of it against 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe in an all-American matchup at the U.S. Open.
Did she enjoy having the record for the latest match?
The second-seeded Kerber led 6-0, 1-0 after 33 minutes when Polona Hercog stopped because of dizziness and cramping.
Former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki began trying to correct an injury-plagued season of poor form, beating U.S. player Taylor Townsend 4-6 6-3 6-4.
“I could taste it, I was so close”, said Townsend, who trains in the heat in Atlanta.
Earlier in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Rafael Nadal stood near the net after winning his first Grand Slam match in three months – 6-1 6-4 6-2 against Denis Istomin – and unravelled the thick wrap of white tape protecting his all-important left wrist.
Two-time grand slam victor and ninth seed Svetlana Kuznetsov beat former French Open victor Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-1 6-2, while double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the number 14, started with a defeat of Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 7-5 6-3.
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Alison Riske almost caused one of the shocks of the opening round but Madison Keys held her nerve to come back and secure a 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory.
