Key events
The 2020 champion, Dominic Thiem, who made that odd start to the match with Bublik, and looked unwell, has taken the first set 6-3 and looks far less green around the gills.
Richard Gasquet, all of 37, is struggling in his opening set, Fábián Marozsán of Hungary has the French veteran serving to save himself, and at set point down at deuce, he can’t save himself.
Victoria Azarenka, Belarus’s finalist three times in New York, is taking on Fiona Ferro, and is 2-1 up with a break up on her French opponent.
Bublik v Thiem on the Grandstand got off to an odd start. Thiem took part in a knock-up then left the court again, only to come back on swiftly. Only a few takers for this match so far.
Here’s the weather report for New York City.
Monday’s Weather Rating: 6/10
Not a terrible start, with high temps in the upper 70s and partly cloudy skies. Clouds and humidity increase as the day goes on though, and showers are possible later this evening. The vibes are alright, but trending a bit unsettled tonight!
— New York Metro Weather (@nymetrowx) August 28, 2023
The action is underway, as the players take to the court for their first-round matches.
And last on court in the Louis Armstrong Stadium, this match: Tatiana Prozorova (Rus) v Caroline Wozniacki (Den).
The former world no 1 and 2018 Australian Open champ is back after over three years of absence, and two children. Some quotes from the former sweetheart of the via the BBC.
I started just missing the cardio aspect. I’ll always love the game, no matter if I’m 33 or if I’m going to be 80.
I hope I’m always going to be fit enough that if I want to go out there and hit some balls, play some doubles or whatever, that would be a possibility with my friends. It just happened to be that I felt like I was hitting the ball extremely well, that I still am young enough to give it another shot.
You only live once, so why not? When you look at yourself and you feel like you still have a chance to do something really cool and really good, then you have got to take the chance. You never know if you don’t try it.
Note that Novak Djokovic, denied his 24th grand slam by Alcaraz in that magical Wimbledon final plays the last game on the Arthur Ashe Stadium. He’s back in New York, having missed last year’s tournament due to his lack of a Covid vaccine. He’s *only* won the US Open three times and his search for a fourth against France’s Alexandre Muller.
Preamble
Flushing Meadows it is, or rather the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and here comes two weeks of the rowdiest – and latest, in two senses, slam of the year. The defending champions are Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz, two players on a road to greatness that is nowhere near complete, considering we are exiting, just about the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era, and that Serena Williams is a mum once more. Alcaraz has to wait until Tuesday to start his defence so Swiatek takes the centre stage, and early on, in playing Rebecca Peterson of Sweden, the world No 75. That goes off 5pm UK time/midday NYC time.
Here’s the order of play on the show courts.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
12:00: (1) Iga Swiatek (Pol) v Rebecca Peterson (Swe), Learner Tien (USA) v (10) Frances Tiafoe (USA), Laura Siegemund (Ger) v (6) Cori Gauff (USA), Alexandre Muller (Fra) v (2) Novak Djokovic (Ser)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
11:00: (18) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) v Fiona Ferro (Fra), Sloane Stephens (USA) v (19) Beatriz Haddad Maia (Bra), Steve Johnson (USA) v (9) Taylor Harry Fritz (USA), (7) Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre) v Milos Raonic (Can), Tatiana Prozorova (Rus) v Caroline Wozniacki (Den)
Grandstand
11:00: (25) Alexander Bublik (Kaz) v Dominic Thiem (Aut), Danielle Collins (USA) v Brenda Fruhvirtova (Cze), (4) Elena Rybakina (Kaz) v Marta Kostyuk (Ukr), Soon Woo Kwon (Kor) v (28) Christopher Eubanks (USA)
