In a historic US Open first-round match that pushed the boundaries of the tournament schedule, American wildcard Sofia Kenin defeated 46-year-old veteran Venus Williams 6-2, 7-6(6). The contest at Arthur Ashe Stadium began well past midnight on Monday, marking the latest start for a women’s match in the event’s history. The delay followed a lengthy five-set battle in which Novak Djokovic was upset by Mariano Navone.
Despite the extreme hour, a dedicated crowd remained at the stadium to support Williams in her 96th career Grand Slam main draw appearance. Reflecting on the unusual timing, Williams noted that while it was an honor to play before such a persistent audience, the late start was far from ideal. She expressed that she had never played a match at such an hour and suggested that the sport should consider adjustments to prevent such scheduling in the future, noting the difficulty of finding one’s rhythm at 1:00 or 2:00 a.m.
The match saw Kenin take immediate control, breaking serve in the opening game and maintaining a lead throughout the first set. Although Williams managed a break to narrow the gap to 3-1, she struggled with consistency, as both players combined for nine double faults early on. Kenin continued her momentum into the second set, racing to a 3-1 lead. While Williams displayed flashes of her seven-time Grand Slam-winning form, her second serve proved to be a significant liability.
The second set grew increasingly tense as Kenin saved four break points to level the score at 5-5. Williams, visibly frustrated by unforced errors, managed to hold for a 6-5 lead before Kenin forced a tiebreak. In the decisive tiebreak, Williams held seven set points but was unable to convert any of them, allowing Kenin to secure the victory. Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, is now set to face top-ranked American Jessica Pegula in the next round.
Elsewhere at the tournament, Jessica Pegula had earlier advanced by defeating Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-2. Daniil Medvedev also progressed, overcoming a difficult start to the season by beating French qualifier Hugo Gaston 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Medvedev, who exited the Cincinnati and Montreal tournaments early, expressed satisfaction with his high-level performance on the court.
The tournament saw several other notable results. Barbora Krejcikova, a two-time Grand Slam champion, became the first seeded player to be eliminated, falling to Kamilla Rakhimova 7-6(4), 6-2. Italian Jasmine Paolini advanced after a three-set victory over Veronika Erjavec, while Jiri Lehecka defeated Pablo Carreno Busta in four sets. Ukrainian players also saw success, with Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina both advancing to the next round with straight-sets wins.
As the competition for the record $108 million prize purse intensifies, injury concerns have already impacted the field. Both former champion Marin Cilic and 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud were forced to withdraw from the tournament shortly after play commenced. The report also notes that “It was extremely late,” Williams told reporters. The report also notes that “I’ve never played a match that late before, and I was happy to see that so many people stuck around for that. The report also notes that it was a real honour to play in front of them.”. The report also notes that racing to a 3-0 lead as both players struggled to find their rhythm, combining for nine double faults, kenin broke serve in the opening game and never trailed in the first set. The report also notes that williams, cheered on by chants of “Let’s go Venus”, broke back to love to trim the deficit to 3-1 but dropped serve again as Kenin pulled away to close out the set. The report also notes that “I would have preferred something else, definitely. The report also notes that so I think we both tried our best, it wasn’t great for either of us. The report also notes that i definitely think there’s room for improvement there.
