Cincinnati Masters
US Open 2026 Women’s Day 1
Third seed Jessica Pegula got up and running on Sunday’s opening day at the US Open with an efficient 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Gabriella Ruse to reach the second round.
Pegula is in serious contention for a shot at the top ranking after earning a WTA-leading 46th match win of the season.
The American could become No. 1 by winning the title on the condition that rival Elena Rubakina does not go past the semi-finals next week.
She will wait for an opponent as wild card Venus Williams faces injury-plagued former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin.
But the possibility of topping table is drawing little immediate interest from the seed with work to do here.
“I’d have to accomplish a lot of other really great things in order to get there. But I’m glad that it’s an option,” Pegula said.
“I think I’d have to win this tournament in order to be No. 1, but I think that just shows the level of women’s tennis right now and how well a lot of the top players are playing.
“It’s definitely extra motivation, and I think it’s something that would be amazing, but again, it’s very, very, very, very far away.”
Pegula won with pair of breaks per set against Ruse.
“I was so nervous today, always the first round of a slam,” the 32-year-old said after opening the programme on the Ashe showcourt.
“It’s an honour to hold that title, walking out onto Ashe opening day, first match, it’s amazing,” added the 2024 Open runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka.
With three-days of opening round play, Pegula now has two days off. “I get to sit around the site and watch everybody else freak out for the next two days,” she said.
Pegula, who was thrashed in last week’s Cincinnati Masters final by Coco Gauff, was joined as a winner by 13th seed Jasmine Paolini.
Paolini had to fight to hang onto a 4-1 lead in the last set, twice losing serve before breaking her opponent in the last game to pull off a move into the second round.
The Italian who did not play in Cincinnati due to a foot injury, defeated Slovene Veronika Erjavec 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
The two-time Grand Slam finalist in 2024 said she was tentative at the start.
“It was a tough match my first on cement. I made a lot of errors, I was nervous and tense.
“But I’m pleased I was able to win and it can only help me in the next rounds. I had a lot of chances in he final set.
“Physically I’m doing better, but now I need to play matches.”
Former French Open champion Barbora Krejikova suffered a huge fall as she exited in the first round 7-6 (4), 6-2 to Uzbek Kamilla Rakhimova a year after reaching the quarter-finals here. The winner celebrated her 25th birthday by knocking out the first seeded player of the tournament.
Krejcikova, who lost in the first round at both tune-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati, lamented her poor summer form.
“The whole US tour didn’t go well for me. I’m just not in the best frame of mind,” the Czech said. “We’ve discussed it a lot internally, and it’s a combination of several factors.
“The biggest one is probably that my batteries are flat.
“It’s been plaguing me throughout the whole US tour. Although we’ve been preparing, training and working hard to improve, it hasn’t worked out in a single match.”
Donna Vekic beat Australian Talia Gibson 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, with the winner dropping a double break in the final set but recovering to advance.
Australia suffered another early loss in 68 minutes as 11th seed Marta Kostyuk dismissed Storm Hunter 6-4, 6-1 in a bid for a third consecutive Grand Slam semi-final.
The Urkainian gave a post-victory shout-ot to her pair of dogs which travel with her and her husband on the circuit.
2021 finalist Leylah Fernandez save five beak points in one game on her way to a 6-3, 6-2 start over Zhang Shuai.
ATP
Sinner knee not right – pulls from Beijing
Jannik Sinner on Friday announced another injury setback, with the world No. 1 withdrawing from the September start of the China Open in Beijing.
The Italian who has not played since defending his Wimbledon title in July, has been on the injury list ever since, missing the Masters events in Canada and Cincinnati and skipping the US Open.
Sinner won the Beijing event a year ago and could now be in doubt for the Shanghai Masters next month.
“Hello everyone, Jannik here,” Sinner posted on social media.
“I want to send the warmest greetings to the Chinese fans. I’m very sorry to announce that I won’t be able to play in Beijing this year.
“My knee is not there, where I would like [it] to be, and I am not ready to compete yet. But I will do everything possible to be there on court as soon as I can.
“What I miss the most is, of course, the tournament, the fans, and the atmosphere. I’ve had a great, great time in the past, winning the title also last year, and I’m very disappointed that I cannot defend it this year, but I’m very happy to come back next year.
“So I wish everyone a very good tournament and I’ll see you all very soon on court again.”
This season has been a roller coaster for the 24-year-old who won five Masters 1000 titles in a row in 2026: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome.
Main Photo:- Jannik Sinner won Beijing trophy in 2023. – by ISF Ltd
ATP
Injury magnet Draper to shut down his season
Jack Draper has bowed to his ugly injury reality, announcing on Tuesday that he will end his disastrous 2026 season and aim to return for 2027.
The former British No. 1 who once touched fourth on the ATP, now stands a distant 155th and has not played a match since losing in the Cincinnati first round in August.
The 24-year-old has had no luck this season, with arm bone bruising causing constant problems and keeping him from the circuit. He managed only 15 matches this season and did not play in a single one of the four Grand Slams.
Draper spelled out his frustration in an Insta post:-
“Don’t usually love lots of words on here but I wanted to update you that I am aiming to return to the tour at the start of 2027. Last summer all the dedication and work I had put into this sport was coming together.
“It was all going my way and the path seemed so clear. However a complicated injury made things incredibly challenging and since that moment I’ve been desperately trying to get back and feel as I once did on the court.
“Managing so much change, adversity and pain has helped me to grow massively in many areas of my life but has also made me feel a level of fatigue.
“I am taking this time to reset and heal so when I return I am 100% ready to go. Tennis is my purpose and passion and so when I step back on court I want to make sure that there’s nothing holding me back from where I want to go.
“I really appreciate all the continued support from my sponsors and people who enjoy following my tennis and I look forward to being back on court to give it my all next year!”
Cincinnati Masters
Rybakina outduels tetchy Sabalenka to win US Open
Elena Rybakina validated her impending move to world No. 1 as she dethroned Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, knocking out the two-time defending champion in a two and a half hour coronation performance to win the US Open on Saturday.
The Kazakh who will move into the top WTA spot in Monday’s rankings, took flight in the third set, breaking Sabalenka twice and losing just three points on serve. She finished the win with an ace after double-faulting on her first match point seconds earlier.
Rybakina had been somewhat doubtful prior to the Open after retiring with an ankle last month in a Cincinnati quarter-final.
She sent over a dozen aces and broke a patchy Sabalenka three times to win her second Grand Slam title of the season after the Australian Open in January.
“I’ve been here the past 10 years and I’ve never been close to being this successful,” Rybakina said. “This is just incredible, it will be an amazing memory.”
The winner added: “It’s tough to find the words right now. I did not expect anything like this.

“I was dealing with injury but everything lined up on my side; this doesn’t feel real.”
The winner called her runner-up “a great champion.”
“It is so difficult to play you, I was dying out there on court trying to get to every possible ball.”
Sabalenka came to the final holding a 10-7 lead in their career series. The match was a repeat of the Melbourne final nine months ago, where Rybakina also beat Sabalenka in three sets.
Sabalenka came to tears on the post-match podium, bitterly disappointed with her failure to complete a New York title hat-trick.
“The last thing I want to be doing right now is making a speech,” she said. “But I’ll try my best.
“I’m disappointed but congrats to Elena on an incredible year. I wish I could have performed better – but I guess next year.”
Sabalenka got away to an inauspicious start, forced to save three break points in the third game as Rybakina took early control of the final, delivering back-to-back aces for 4-all
With Sabalenka repeatedly forced to save break points, the two-time defending champion was finally broken to trail 2-3, receiving a warning for racquet abuse – an angry toss – after double-faulting away the fifth game.
Rybakina then delivered a love game, going on to to claim the early lead 6-4 on a second set point after 44 minutes as Sabalenka put a return long.
The top seed reigned in her emotions and nerves a bit in the second set, with good results as she spent nearly an hour and three set points to level the final at a set each.
Sabalenka salvaged two break points in the third game and held to love in the seventh and ninth games before missing on two set points as Rybakina moved to 5-all.
Sabalenka finally came good on her third chance, seizing the set and breaking her opponent with a backhand winner down the line, 7-5.
Main photo:- Elena Rybakina celebrates as she wins Women’s Singles title – by WTATennis.com
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