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Welcome to the U.S. Open briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.
On day one, a rising star made more history, a four-year wait came to an end, and a strange first-night match graced Arthur Ashe Stadium.
A stunning match writes another chapter in a nation’s tennis record
Say this for Alexandra Eala: She knows how to make an entrance.
Eala, the 20-year-old from the Philippines who has been making tennis history for her country all year, became the first Filipino to win a main-draw match at a Grand Slam in the Open Era, which goes back more than 50 years. And she did it in style, coming back from 5-1 down in the third set to prevail 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(11) in a wild tussle with No. 14 seed Clara Tauson of Denmark on Grandstand.
Eala’s win hardly comes out of nowhere. She beat Iga Świątek at the Miami Open in March, as well as two other Grand Slam champions — Madison Keys and Jelena Ostapenko — before falling in the semifinal to Jessica Pegula. But she had struggled to find wins in top-tier tour events since then.
For a long while Sunday, it looked like that would continue. But then Eala, who won the junior title here three years ago, started nailing her ground strokes and Tauson went off the boil. She had found the weight of support for Eala difficult from the off, complaining to the umpire about an environment in which even her double faults were cheered.
Eala collapsed on the court in tears when it was over, in front of the packed crowd of 8,000 who had adopted her as their own. With such a large Filipino diaspora in Woodside, Queens, just a few minutes away by train, Eala felt like she was playing at home.
How did she manage the upset? The answer was surprising.
“It comes down to experience,” said the WTA Tour rookie. “Although I’m at the start of my WTA career, I’ve played so, so many matches, and tight matches and tense moments can happen at any level. I’ve been playing since I was four. I’m 20 now, so that’s 16 years of experience, you know, whether it’s at the junior level, 10-and-under level or professional level. That mental strength and focus are the keys to coming out victorious in those moments.”
Matt Futterman
Novak Djokovic’s strange night in New York…
As quests for 25 Grand Slam singles titles go, this was a weird one.
Novak Djokovic looked like he enjoyed his time in Arthur Ashe Stadium even less than his opponent, the 19-year-old American Learner Tien, which is saying something considering Djokovic beat Tien fairly handily 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2 on a strange night.
Maybe it was the blister on his foot. Or maybe he’s homesick. He lamented the other day that if he played well in this tournament, he would miss his daughter’s birthday on Sept. 2. Maybe it’s coming into a tournament knowing that his chances are dim in the era of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Novak Djokovic knows defeating Carlos Alcaraz would be tough. (William West / AFP via Getty Images)
Djokovic came in having not played a match since Sinner beat him at Wimbledon. And that’s about how he looked after the first set, as he slogged through the rest of the night and nudged Tien toward capitulation.
He double-faulted on his first match point, and shook his head in frustration. Two points later, after another error, Tien had broken and extended the match to another game. But six points later, Djokovic had lived to fight another night after his 91st win at the U.S. Open.
“The best night session in the world,” Djokovic told the 24,000 who packed the stadium. “Quite a strange match.”
He claimed to still have the fire and the drive.
“I still want to compete, hopefully you guys are still enjoying my tennis,” he said.
Surely some did. But did he?
He will get another young American, 22-year-old Zach Svajda, on Wednesday.
Matt Futterman
… And Daniil Medvedev’s even stranger early morning
Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, was staring down a second consecutive limp first-round defeat to Benjamin Bonzi of France at a Grand Slam. Then a photographer walked onto Louis Armstrong Stadium and sparked the most unusual six minutes the U.S. Open has seen for some time.
France’s Bonzi was up match point against former world No. 1 and U.S. Open champion Medvedev on Louis Armstrong Stadium, leading 6-3, 7-5, 5-4, when he missed a first serve. At this point, a photographer walked onto the court, thinking the match was about to finish. Because of the delay caused by the photographer coming onto the court, umpire Greg Allensworth ruled that Bonzi should have a first serve back, rather than having to hit a second serve.
Medvedev, always a volatile player who knows how to work a crowd, berated Allensworth and demanded that the crowd make some noise to show their displeasure.
The United States Tennis Association, which organises the U.S. Open, later told The Athletic that the photographer’s credentials for the tournament have been revoked after being escorted from the court by security.
After claiming that Allensworth “wanted to leave” because he gets “paid by the match, not by the hour,” he shouted toward the camera: “Reilly Opelka was right!” and “What did Reilly Opelka say?”
This was in apparent reference to the American player saying in February that: “The guy (Allensworth) shouldn’t have a job or should be sidelined for about four weeks, maybe learn a thing or two,” after he penalized Opelka for swearing at a spectator at the Dallas Open.
After a six-minute delay, Bonzi was broken and lost the game, the set, and then the next set. Medvedev appeared to have been resuscitated by his own antics.
But the Frenchman stayed with the contest, and in a poetic reversal, he broke Medvedev at *4-5 in the fifth set to take the match 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(5), 0-6, 6-4. The second consecutive first-round defeat arrived for Medvedev. It was just anything but limp.
Charlie Eccleshare
Emma Raducanu’s four-year wait is over
In keeping with the wildness of Emma Raducanu’s U.S. Open title win four years ago is the fact that until Sunday, she hadn’t won a match at the tournament since.
She finally put that record right Sunday, with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2 win over Japan’s Ena Shibahara on the opening day.
In her on-court interview and news conference, she referenced ending that unwanted sequence, unprompted, and then expanded on how it had been a preoccupation coming into the tournament.
“It has been on my mind,” she said in the news conference.
“It’s been four years, and it’s a very special tournament. I did feel different coming into it this year, like I was doing the right things day to day, but still, it’s in the back of your head. So I’m just very pleased to have overcome that.”
Emma Raducanu recorded her first victory in New York in four years. (Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)
After taking only 62 minutes to dispatch Shibahara, Raducanu hit the practice courts to get some extra work in before her next assignment: a second-round match against Indonesia’s Janice Tjen on Wednesday.
Tjen is a qualifier, like Raducanu was when she won the title, but the 23-year-old comes in off the back of constantly winning in the tennis minor leagues, like Victoria Mboko and Loïs Boisson this year. Tjen came into her first Grand Slam tournament with nothing to lose, and duly knocked out No. 24 seed Veronika Kudermetova in three sets.
Charlie Eccleshare
Other notable results on day 1
World No. 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka (1) saw her opening match go to a familiar script. She lost her serve, got it back, and looked to be heading to a tiebreak against Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova, but a superb defensive shot off a smash let her steal the first set 7-5. The second was much more straightforward, with Sabalenka coming through 7-5, 6-1.
Last year’s men’s singles finalist Taylor Fritz (4) came through an all-American clash, beating wild card Emilio Nava 7-5, 6-2, 6-3, while No. 6 seed Ben Shelton eased through in straight sets against Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse.
Emma Navarro (10), who has been having a tough season, came through a tight match against Wang Yafan 7-6(9), 6-3 as she seeks to defend her run to the semifinals 12 months ago.
Shot of the day
Mariano Navone could have lost this point twice against Marcos Giron. Instead, he won it once.
Up next:
🎾 Women’s singles: Barbora Krejčíková vs. Victoria Mboko (22)
11 a.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+
This is one of the anticipated first-round matches in the women’s singles draw. Mboko, the Canadian 18-year-old who won her first WTA 1000 title at the Canadian Open, faces two-time Grand Slam champion Krejčíková.
Mboko beat four major winners en route to the title in Montreal. This time last year, she was ranked outside the top 300; now she is 23rd in the world. Can she continue her hot streak in New York?
🎾 Men’s singles: João Fonseca vs. Miomir Kecmanović
~1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Fonseca exited last year’s U.S. Open in devastating fashion, losing in the final round of qualifying. Since then, he has become one of the star attractions in the sport, bringing waves of Brazilian fans to his matches.
Kecmanović, a steady pro who will test the Brazilian’s rally tolerance, isn’t an ideal opponent as Fonseca searches for his first main-draw win in New York.
🎾 Women’s singles: Venus Williams (WC) vs. Karolina Muchová (11)
7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Venus Williams is back at the U.S. Open, with the seven-time major winner making her 25th main-draw appearance in the singles.
It’s a tough draw for the 45-year-old, taking on 11th seed Karolína Muchová. The Czech player is a back-to-back U.S. Open semifinalist, known for her crafty shotmaking,
🎾 Men’s singles: Reilly Opelka vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2)
~9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+
The last time Alcaraz graced Arthur Ashe Stadium, Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp upset the Spaniard in the second round.
Alcaraz, the 2022 U.S. Open champion, faces a tricky assignment in the big-serving Opelka. It’s the first meeting between the two players, and Alcaraz will need to adjust to the lack of rhythm he will get against Opelka’s serve.
U.S. Open men’s draw 2025U.S. Open women’s draw 2025
Tell us what you noticed on the first day…
(Top photo of Alexandra Eala: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic)