Alcaraz and Mertens advance as Venus, Keys bow out of US Open

Venus Williams battled bravely before bowing out of the US Open on her return to Grand Slam tennis on Monday as Spanish ace Carlos Alcaraz stormed into the second round with a dominant opening win.

The second full day of action in New York saw all eyes turn to the Arthur Ashe Stadium’s night session, where the 45-year-old Williams lost in three sets to 11th seed Karolina Muchova.

Williams only returned to competitive tennis in July following a 16-month absence from the sport and had been granted a wild card into the main draw at Flushing Meadows.

But hopes of a fairytale run — 28 years after her debut in the tournament — ended in a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 loss to Muchova, who was not even born when Williams turned professional in 1994.

“I didn’t win today but I’m very proud of the way I played,” Williams, the US Open champion in 2000 and 2001, said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a crowd on my side like that. I knew people around the world and around the United States were really rooting for me, and that felt great.”

Williams said she does not expect to play again this year, citing a reluctance to travel, but was coy about whether she would consider seeking a place in the Australian Open next season.

“That’s kind of far too,” Williams said when asked about the Australian Open.

“My goal is to do what I want to do. I’m so grateful for all the folks who gave me a wild card. They could have said, ‘Hey, listen, you’ve been gone too long, you haven’t won a lot of matches in the last few years.’ I wasn’t lucky with my health and with injuries,” she said.

“But there were a lot of people who believed in me in these tournaments. I’m very grateful to have had that chance and that opportunity to make good on it and have a chance to really strike the ball.

“I play an exciting brand of tennis. It’s a lot of fun to go literally hog wild out there and hit as hard as I can. I’m happiest when I can just hit hard.”

With the American exiting, 2022 men’s champion Alcaraz took centre-stage in the late game in his first round tie against unseeded American Reilly Opelka.

The Spaniard arrived for the game sporting a striking new hairstyle — a severe crew cut — and he duly chopped down the 6ft 11in Opelka with a blistering 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory in 2hr 5min.

“Today was a really difficult one,” Alcaraz said. “Reilly is a great, tough player. I couldn’t get the rhythm that I wanted to get but I’m just really happy with what I did today. I did a great performance today.”

Alcaraz is chasing a second US Open title following his maiden Grand Slam victory at the tournament three years ago. Australian Open winner Madison Keys became the highest-ranked player to exit so far, the sixth seed losing to Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/3), 7-5.

“Today was the first time in a while where my nerves really got the better of me and it kind of became a little bit paralyzing,” home hope Keys said.

“I was just slow, I wasn’t seeing things the way that I wanted to, which I feel like resulted in a lot of bad decisions and lazy footwork.”

Belgian 19th seed Elise Mertens ousted wild card Alyssa Ahn 6-1, 6-0 while Ukrainian 30th seed Dayana Yastremska exited in a 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 loss to Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

British fifth seed Jack Draper needed four sets to get past Argentina’s Federico Gomez, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2. Other seeds to advance included Norway’s Casper Ruud, the 12th seed, who downed Austria’s Sebastian Ofner 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).

US 17th seed Frances Tiafoe beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3.

World number two Iga Swiatek walloped her US Open first-round opponent Emiliana Arango in a near flawless performance in the opening match at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday, as home fans eagerly awaited 2023 champion Coco Gauff.

Ticketholders enjoyed a third day of round-one action on Tuesday thanks to the tournament’s newly expanded, 15-day schedule that organisers hoped would accommodate more fans after three straight years of record-breaking attendances.

Swiatek arrived in New York in pristine form after collecting her sixth major at Wimbledon and hoisting the trophy at the Cincinnati tune-up tournament and she cruised through her opener 6-1 6-2 in an hour, never facing a break point.

Agencies